A Child's Mind
by Happyritas
Summary: Frisk knew, or knew of, all the students in their class. After searching for a new friend, they finally come meet the infamous Kiona Pala, known for being the only autistic, Pacific Islander student in their school.
1. - one -

**Full Summary:**

 **" _The world is wide with wonder_**

 _ **For everything is new**_

 _ **A child's mind is like a sponge**_

 _ **Or like a flower sipping morning dew**_..."

 ** _A Child's Mind,_ by Marilyn Lott**

 **Frisk knew, or knew of, all the students in their class. After searching for a new friend, they finally come meet the infamous Kiona Pala, known for being the only autistic, Pacific Islander student in the school.**

 **With Kiona, being shy, yet sweet girl with a infatuation giraffes, and Frisk being a friendly, kind, and uniquely level-headed for someone of their age, it isn't a surprise that they became friends so quickly.**

 **Their friendship becomes rather one-sided when Kiona's home issues effects her behavior with Frisk carrying the heavy end of it.**

 **Frisk does not falter however. They are far too determined to keep their friendship alive and keep Kiona safe from danger, no matter the risks.**

 **Chapter One:**

Frisk knew, or knew of, all the students in their class. They hadn't exactly had been friends, but there was a mutual respect and distance between the students and them. Frisk would mind their own and they did the same with themselves. However, there had been a few occurrences with some of the students outside their class and grade insulting them, or in some cases beating up on Frisk as they went about their day, but Frisk learned to live with it, or just shrug them off.

The school Frisk attended was the local public school, Fredrick Johnson Middle School, in a primarily white neighborhood, meaning that Frisk — being a mix of black and Hispanic, agender, and having monster adoptive parents — was constantly being insulted for this by the bullies.

Frisk was indifferent on it, however. It was their idea to attend a public school that openly segregated humans from monsters opposed to going to their adopted mother's, Toriel, private school for both monsters and humans alike. They believed that if they made a difference in the staff and in the school board here, then it could make a difference in their views on monster kind. Hopefully, in due time, they would integrate the school. Then, other schools would take the example of FJMS, and integrate their own schools, almost like a domino-effect. Soon, everyone would be happy, integrated, and racism-free.

But... Until then, Frisk was stuck being lonely and dealing with with the inevitable bullying of Fredrick Johnson Middle School until further notice. That is, until they saw Kiona.

Frisk initially met Kiona during their grades' lunch time, at which they were all supposed to spend in the cafeteria. Frisk, however, had misplaced a book they needed for their next period, and had been retracing their steps.

They found the book in their second period classroom on their assigned desk. Frisk was relieved to find the door open, and slipped through. Light in their steps, Frisk quickly snatched their book off the desk and began to leave again. However, they stopped when they noticed something rather peculiar.

A student was sitting in the back of the room, their nose buried in a composition notebook, furiously scribbling away at a paper, and muttering to themselves.

Frisk blinked, it took them a few seconds to recognize the student as one of the females from her class, this being easily deduced by her long, sister-locked hair. After a minute of thinking, they finally remembered her name: Kiona Pala. The infamous student known for her autism. Because of the school's lack of 'special disabilities' classes, she was stuck in the normal classes and expected to keep up with the curricula. Frisk themselves didn't know her — she kind of fell into the ' _know of them_ ' category of all the students in their class.

Kiona was one of the few non-white students in the school, being a rare Pacific Islander and supposedly from New Zealand, or Hawaii. Because of this, her skin was a burnt sienna shade and her hazel-colored hair was meticulously sister-locked into thousands of braids that were corn-rolled on her head, and left in long braids that spilled over her shoulders and down her back, but it was unkempt and messy. She wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt with a faded, smiling sun on it that looked almost too big on her thin body, and blue jeans.

Frisk noticed that there were no remnants of lunch from her, neither brought from home nor bought from the school's cafeteria. Assuming she had forgotten it at home, Frisk did something any kind human being would've done — which are surprisingly hard to come by these days — they offered their own.

Frisk approached the girl, who didn't seem to see them coming. Or maybe, she had and simply didn't care, "Hi there!" Frisk greeted. The girl didn't look up, she continued to draw in that composition book of hers, seemingly aimlessly. Frisk faltered at the ignorance, but decided to continue anyway, "I'm Frisk. You're Kiona, right?" Frisk peered at the drawing she had been so focused on.

"... _Giraffe_ ," the girl said suddenly. It was so random that Frisk gave her a odd look.

"What?"

"Giraffes. They have really long necks with spots," the girl clarified. She was really quiet and it made it almost hard to talk to her because of it. "Frisk thinks I'm weird."

"What?" Frisk shook their head and smiled, "No, I don't! Giraffes are cool! I've never seen one. The closest I've been to something similar to such a thing was when I met a friend of mine's and his neck was really, really long. Have you seen them? Like at the zoo or something?" Kiona didn't reply. She simply continued to color silently.

This didn't waver Frisk's determination, however, and they continued to speak. "So, what do you like to do? Other than draw Giraffes."

"What do you like?" Kiona asked, turning the question on them.

"I... Like a lot of things. My mom's cooking, dogs, monsters..."

"They like monsters..." The girl whispered, almost to herself.

Frisk smiled, "Yeah, I do! My mom's a monster, actually, and so is my dad. They're the former king and queen of the Underground." Kiona gave a small nod, then seemed to be distracted by something behind her, having to look over her shoulder, even though nothing was there. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Well, that's depressing, Frisk thought with a small scoff. "Frisk is here, why are you here, Frisk?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Why _me_?"

"Why _not_ you?"

"Why not _you_?"

" _What_?"

"What not talk to _yourself_? Yourself can be very lonely." Frisk giggled at this.

"You're funny, Kiona," they laughed.

Their laughter was rather contagious because Kiona started giggling uncontrollably as well. "You... Very funny as well!" She said between breaths.

"What did you have for lunch?" Frisk asked.

"Giraffes!" She smiled broadly, but Frisk didn't seem to understand.

"What did you eat?"

"Mommy forgot lunch, so I didn't eat anything," Kiona shrugged. So she didn't bring her lunch.

"Well, I have..." Frisk unzipped the seal on their lunchbox, "A sandwich, a bottle of water, chips, and some of my mom's _butterscotch-cinnamon pie_!" At the last one, Frisk became excited, their voice elevating. "It's _so_ good! Do you want some?"

" _Food_?" Kiona frowned, but nodded, rather eagerly. Frisk split the pie, horizontally, giving Kiona the top half, and placing it on a napkin provided by their mother.

Kiona scarfed the food down that she was given near instantly. Her quick movements surprising Frisk, but they didn't say anything. After a minute, they offered up half of their sandwich, with it already being cut in a triangle-like formation. Again, she ate the food as if she had been starving for days. Frisk smiled, glad that they offered their food to her.

The monotonous low buzz that signaled the end of the period sounded in the bells. Frisk thought nothing of it and stood, but Kiona jumped, covering their ears. The buzz was barely on for maybe two or three seconds before shutting itself off.

There was a beat of silence before Kiona grabbed her bag, which looked long past 'worn-out'. There was a hole at the bottom, but it had been duck taped in order to be fixed. There was a old, brownish pattern in it but it was impossible to make out now. The strap was also broken, but had been taped haphazardly as well.

Kiona looked at Frisk as she left, smiled silently, before passing to her next class.

~•~•~•~

The next few lunches with Kiona had been rather fun. Kiona had opened up to Frisk more, sharing her journal where she drew giraffes in — and they weren't bad at all, they actually looked realistic and was well detailed. Frisk decided to make a duplicate of whatever they had for lunch, just in case Kiona had brought nothing. This wasn't a bad idea, since for the four days that they hung out during this period, Kiona didn't bring any lunch, always saying, 'Mommy forgot' or 'Mommy was late', and that was it.

Kiona was a really nice person, when Frisk got to know her. She expressed her knowledge in harder subject for them, like math and science, as if it were the easiest thing ever. Sometimes, Frisk would randomly ask what a number times a number was, and Kiona, without looking up or having to pause, would give them the answer, as if they had punched in a few numbers on a calculator and Kiona knew it immediately. She was so good with numbers, that it was almost scary.

However, Kiona lagged in other main subjects, particularly English and History. One day, Frisk suggested that they should go over their work together, since they too were having issues with it the night before, and Kiona was furious. She got angry, saying that she didn't do it, which was completely fine. However, Kiona was so upset that began to cry, biting her lip until it was literally dripping with blood.

Frisk attempted to comfort the girl, but it was no use, since she refused to let them touch her — they never touched her, in fact — and if they did, either accidentally or not, she would just get even more upset. Eventually, she stopped, but she had been moody and depressed for the rest of the day, and Frisk felt bad for bringing up the homework. The next day, however, Kiona was perfectly fine.

It became a usual routine for Frisk. They would go to their locker, receive their lunch and then going to their second period class. "Hey Kiona!" Frisk greeted cheerily, and Kiona looked up from her journal. "My mom made cookies last night out of the same batter she used for pie, do you want some?" Kiona nodded vigorously as Frisk sat down, opening their lunch box.

Frisk handed Kiona her share, which she ate, much slower this time. Frisk shared a story of their great adventure washing Lesser Dog yesterday, and Kiona listened silently, sometimes echoing Frisk's words.

Halfway through their lunch, someone entered the classroom. It wasn't uncommon for a teacher to come in and out really quick, most likely fetching something, or glance in occasionally, but otherwise left them undisturbed and was quiet.

Now, there was a student, a male maybe in seventh or eighth grade. He had mousy brown hair and brown eyes, wore new, most likely expensive clothes. He had a friend with him who was blonde, had blue eyes, and was freckled all over his face and neck. Neither of them belonged in the sixth grade classroom — they shouldn't even be in the sixth grade hall for that matter. By the sneers both of them shared on their faces, it was very likely that they most likely had negative intentions.

"Well look at that," the boy laughed. "The monster _freak_ and the _retard_ sitting together."

"She's _not_ retarded," Frisk spat, defending Kiona, who didn't seem to mind the angry bullies anyway. "What do you want?"

"I was gonna go to lunch, but then I heard that you two had been having tea parties here, so I thought it would be fun to see your little _gay_ tea party." Frisk narrowed their eyes, but decided to turn around and regard Kiona who had been drawing furiously. Frisk usually took this as a sign of nervousness.

"Don't listen to them," Frisk whispered, "They're just _bullies_ ; too incompetent and ignorant to truly understand anything."

"They are silly," Kiona said quietly. "My giraffes is not named _Retard_. Her name is _Debbie_." Frisk laughed at that, but the bullies overheard her and stomped over.

"You're so _stupid_!" He hissed, kicking Kiona's chair, making her jump. She looked down, her hands beginning to shake. "What's wrong with you?! Are you _deaf_ now too!?" The boy turned to his friend, who smirked. His friend grabbed Frisk's shoulder, yanking them to their feet. Frisk shouted in pain at his grip, clawing and hitting his had to let go, but it didn't loosen.

"Speak up, stupid _bitch_!" The boy hissed, yanking Kiona by her hair. Kiona shouted in pain, holding her head as it snapped back. She dropped her pencil, and looked at the boy, her hands trembling. "What's wrong? You gonna pee yourself now?"

" _Stop it_!" Frisk shouted, kicking the boy that held their shoulder in the crotch. Finally, his grip slipped and he fell to his knees. Frisk pushed the boy away from Kiona, who had been breathing very heavily. The boy stumbled, but glared at them.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Frisk stood strong, determination etched in on their face.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Frisk snapped. They weren't going to fight the boy, but talking to him at least could do something. The boy lunged at them, but they side stepped, "Don't you know that's _wrong_?! She didn't do anything to you."

"She's _there_! That's enough," He hissed. "We don't need more freaks like you in this world!" He tried to hit them, but they caught his hand.

"She's _not_ a freak, she's really, _really_ nice. If you weren't so ignorant and actually paid attention to her, then you'd understand!" Frisk swung his arm around, twisting it behind his back — a move they learned from Undyne — then, shoved him away.

He stumbled and fell to the ground just as a teacher walked by. He looked into the classroom, seeing Frisk standing over two boys who were on the floor and a girl trembling in the chair. "Frisk!" He snapped, making them look up. Before they could defend themself for the crime commit, he said, "Principal's office. _Now_!"

~•~•~•~

Frisk hadn't gotten in trouble much, but when they did, it was either a misconception, a lie, or frankly, had nothing to do with them. So, when their mother, Toriel Dreemur, came to the school in all her seven-foot five inches, former queen glory, she assume that it had been one of those three. However, after hearing the story, Frisk was very much at fault here. Although it had been rather embellished by the two ' _victims_ ', she was surprised, and rather disappointed, to hear that Frisk had actually somewhat attacked these students, even if it were at the cost of the safety of another.

After the entire endeavor, and Frisk being sent home early, Toriel found her own rightful punishment for Frisk. " _Studying_. That's all you'll be doing for the next three days," Frisk nodded, but couldn't hide their disappoint. "And, no sweets during this time either." There was an audible groan from Frisk that time. "I'm very disappointed in you, my child. There was no reason for you to result to violence for dealing with those boys."

"I didn't do anything bad!" Frisk exclaimed, "I just twisted his arm! Like Undyne showed me!"

Toriel shook her head, "It still put the student in pain..." Toriel was silent for a beat. "As your teacher, I am _very_ disappointed in your actions and how you carried out that situation. But, as your mother, I am proud." Frisk's face brightened at that. "You stuck up for the student when no one would. You make me proud to call you my child." Frisk hugged their mother giggling.

"Now this doesn't mean you're getting out of punishment," Frisk's smile slid off their face, and they slumped.

"... Oh... Okay..."

~•~•~•~

When Kiona arrived home, her mother still hadn't arrived, despite it being hours after her class that she taught ended. Kiona smiled, she supposed she could just wait for her then.

Kiona sat at the table, which had been littered with ripped open, discarded letters, crumpled papers, and dirty dishes. Cleaning an area, Kiona began to draw in her journal again, waiting patiently for her mother's arrival.

Around ten o'clock, her mother barged through the door, making Kiona's sleepy head snap up from the table. Her mother, stormed into the kitchen, mumbling to herself agitatedly, and leaning her head against the countertop. " _Mommy_?" The woman snapped her head away from the counter to glare at the girl, who merely blinked. "Mommy! I made a giraffe, wanna see?"

For a split moment. her face had been blank. Then, she snapped, " _Shut up_! Just _shut up,_ you useless piece of _trash_!!" Kiona flinched, but for once, did as she was told and kept her head down. "Sitting in the middle of a important meeting just for it to be interrupted because you were acting like a idiotic piece of _shit_ at school! You must _enjoy_ not having any food on the table or in the fridge, huh?!"

At the mention of food, Kiona's stomach growled, "I'm hungry, Mommy. Are you going to—"

"I said _shut up_!" She hissed. "Go to your room. And don't even think about asking or food for the rest of the week!"

"I'm _hungry_ ," Kiona whined, not abiding her mother's angry order.

The woman's eyes turned dark for a moment, before she lunged at the girl. Before Kiona had the chance to react, her mother, Hoana, had already been shaking her shoulders senselessly, screaming profanities into her ears. The sounds were overwhelming, too overwhelming, and Kiona stopped moving, breathing shallowly. Her eyes were focused on her mother, who had now taken to hitting her repeatedly, as if it would bring her back to reality.

After Hoana had gotten her anger out, she began to drag Kiona by the hand and out of the room. Kiona's side hit the edge of the table, causing a bottle to teeter over the side, then shatter at Kiona's bare feet. A large shard of glass pierced Kiona's foot, and the girl screamed, tears welling in her eyes. Blood stained the hardwood flooring, which caused a whole other round of swears from Hoana.

Hoana didn't bother to fix up Kiona's foot. She merely picked her up so she didn't have to walk, and haphazardly carried her to the bathroom. There, she pulled out the largest shards of glass — earning a round of sobbing cries from Kiona. She tossed it out and handed the girl a roll of toilet paper.

"Clean up your mess when you're done," Hoana ordered, and closed the bathroom door with Kiona still crying inside.

~•~•~•~

Frisk had been really worried when Kiona didn't show up to class the next few days. They expressed these worries to the teachers, but since none of them had a answer — or, frankly cared — Frisk was left alone, wondering what happened.

On Monday, the next week, Kiona showed back up at school, however something seemed a bit off about her. She didn't greet Frisk at all when they waved at her, as if they didn't exist in the first place. Their homeroom history teacher had changed the class's seating over the weekend, and placed Kiona in the front, which Frisk right beside her. Frisk was happy, but Kiona didn't react at all.

As the class went on, Frisk noticed Kiona was squinting at the board, despite them being the closest to the board than anyone else in the class. "Did you leave your glasses at home?" Frisk asked, they were joking a little, but was still a bit concerned.

Kiona shook her head, however — this being the first sign of her acknowledging their existence since she arrived — and turned her head down to slowly draw in her notebook.

Kiona continued this behavior throughout the rest of the day — aloof and quiet. Frisk noticed that she had also been walking with a slight limp, favoring her left foot over her right. "Is your foot okay?" Frisk asked while they were standing outside the door to their next class, the last one had been let out a few minutes too early. "Do you need to see the nurse?"

"Mommy said its fine," Kiona replied quietly, and that was all she spoke on that subject.

Frisk tried to get more information out of her, but Kiona refused to talk, and returned to draw in her journal. Frisk sighed, deciding that when they got home, they would talk to their mother and father on the situation.


	2. - two -

**Chapter Two:**

A month had passed since Frisk and Kiona met, and Frisk loved every second. Frisk thought Kiona was interesting and fun to be around. She was silly, when she wanted to, and serious at the same time. Frisk didn't know why people didn't like to talk to her, she was such a great person. Frisk didn't mind though. They had each other and that was all that mattered.

But... The last month with Kiona wasn't anything short of strange, either. Sometimes, she would be absent for school for days, once almost a week, at a time. When Frisk questioned her on this when she finally returned, Kiona merely smiled, saying, " _Mommy needed me_ ," or " _Mommy didn't have time_."

This rose Frisk's curiosity. Maybe her mother had been so hardworking that she sometimes didn't have time to drive her daughter to school? Kiona hadn't mentioned a father at all before, so maybe she only had one parent, and she had limited time. If that was the case, then Frisk was sure that they and their mother could set something up so they could pick her up when she couldn't.

However... Somedays, Kiona would come to school sporting seemingly random injuries. Sometimes, she was limping, other times, she refused to bend over or raise her arm. Frisk didn't know why. Maybe, Kiona helped her mother with whatever her job was, and had become rather sore afterwards.

One day, Kiona moved to grab a pen and her shirt's sleeve came up to expose a dark bruise around her wrist. Frisk's eyes widened, but they didn't speak up because they were in the middle of a lesson with a particularly strict teacher.

When lunch rolled around, though, Frisk approached Kiona on the subject. "Hey, Kiona?" Kiona sat at her desk, drawing, but looked up when Frisk called her name.

"Hello, Frisk!" Kiona perked, smiling at her friend. "Frisk wants to talk, right Frisk?" Frisk smiled, whenever she did that, Frisk would always laugh, and when Kiona noticed, she began to do it more.

"I wanted to talk to you?"

"Are we talking about giraffes, Frisk?"

"No, we're not," Frisk sat down beside Kiona and smiled kindly at her. Frisk inhaled, "Why... Was there a bruise on your wrist, Kiona?"

"Hmm? What?"

"Your wrist," Frisk motioned to her arms where they saw it earlier. "Why was there a bruise there?" Kiona went silent and stopped drawing. The atmosphere was tense, and Frisk stiffened, almost feeling like they had stepped over some kind of unspoken line in their friendship.

Several minutes passed with the two being in complete silence, Kiona staring at her journal and Frisk counting the nerve-wracking seconds in their head. Finally, she spoke up, "I made a new giraffe yesterday, do you wanna see it Frisk?" Kiona asked, flipping through several pages in her journal.

Frisk stared at the girl, why would she change the subject like that? Maybe... Something serious did happen, and Kiona was hurt. Suspicion crept into their thoughts, why would she keep something like this from them? They were her friend!

Frisk shook their head a bit. Maybe she just wasn't ready to talk about it, they rationalized. When she was ready to speak about the inexplicably strange injuries on her body, she would. Until then, Frisk would respect her privacy.

Frisk smiled, "I don't think you have, lemme see!"

~•~•~•~

Soon, it had been time for dismissal. This was always a stressful time for Kiona, Frisk knew she didn't like how everyone was talking, and loudly at that. So, with special permission and a lot of persuasion, Frisk was able to walk with Kiona down to one of the office staff rooms, and wait for one — or both — of them to be dismissed.

Frisk always enjoyed hanging out with Kiona at this time, and today, even more so. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Frisk exclaimed, as the afternoon announcements ran dully in the background. They pulled a small envelope out of their pocket and handed it to Kiona, "Do you wanna sleepover this weekend? My mom arranged everything, so all you gotta do is just show this to your mom, and then bring back a note tomorrow from her. We'll pick you up, feed you, and drop you off and stuff. It's.. All there, so you don't have to worry. Just show your mom and we'll figure out the details."

Kiona stared at the note, a fine layer of confusion covering her face, " _Sleep over_?"

"Yeah! You come to my house and we get to stay up and watch movies and play games and stuff! My mom even said she'd make some Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie, and it'll be fresh too! She heard how much you liked it and she's really excited..." Frisk trailed off, rubbing the back of their neck.

Kiona didn't take her gaze from the white envelope, until finally, she smiled. Then, she laughed and hugged Frisk tight around the waist. Frisk let out a small gasp, stumbling back with both of their weight. Kiona never touched them, she never touched anyone! But... Now she was hugging them.

Frisk let out a small laugh, "Is that a yes?" Frisk couldn't help but feel nervous. They've... Never had school friends over their house before, so this was definitely new to both of them.

"Yes! I'll tell Mommy!" Kiona laughed, "Mommy likes friend! She'll let me draw giraffes too!" Frisk laughed, just as the overhead speaker called Kiona's school bus number.

"You gotta go," Frisk said, almost sad to leave Kiona's warm embrace. "C'mon, I'll walk you."

~•~•~•~

Hoana came home late that night, but Kiona was still up, waiting for her. They were bouncing with energy, holding Frisk's slightly crinkled invitation in her hands.

"Mommy! Mommy, look!" Kiona explained, shoving the envelope in her direction. Kiona had gotten bored while she waited, so she had drawn a giraffe on the side. "Look! Frisk, my friend, gave me a present!"

Hoana sneered at her daughter, "Why the _hell_ aren't you asleep!?" She hissed, stepping into her house. Kiona noticed a unfamiliar man stepping in behind her. He was tall with ivory skin and curly hair. His eyes were a gold-hazelnut colour that bewildered Kiona, almost. "What the fuck is that?"

Kiona snapped her gaze away from the man who had turned to close the front door — trapping whatever little heat they had, inside. "It–It's a letter and—"

"It's _trash_ , that's what it is," Hoana snapped, snatching the white, drawn on envelope away, and easily ripped it to shreds. "I want you in bed, _now_! And if I see you out of bed as late as it is now, I won't hesitate to break your wrist!" Kiona scurried off, scared and confused.

Kiona _wasn't_ stupid. She knew what her mother just did, and that made her... She couldn't describe it. It made her hurt. It boiled inside her, like a raging flame, and it hurt to feel it. And it hurt even more to try to make it go away!

Tears flooded Kiona's eyes and she sat on her bed — which has consisted of a worn mattress her mother found on the side of the street two weeks ago, and raggedy, itchy blankets — ignoring the strange noises that seemed to echo off the walls from downstairs and somehow venture into her small room. Kiona was far too busy crying and shaking and screaming. She bit her lip, not knowing what else to do, watching mindlessly as blood dripped down her chin morbidly.

This didn't stop her pain, but it did make her rather exhausted. It didn't take long for Kiona to fall asleep.

~•~•~•~

Kiona woke up when she felt someone touch her backside. It was so strange that she jumped, her eyes slowly opening. Although the lights had been off and the door was closed, Kiona could still see the outline of a man, courtesy of the very bright moon that illuminated her room due to its lack of curtains. The man from earlier loomed over her, all too close for Kiona's understanding. Kiona moved instantly, but the man who's hand was on her backside remained firm and pulled her towards him.

"You're not _that_ bad lookin', for a retarded piece of shit," the man mused, his voice a deep baritone. "You'll give me a good time, won't you?" He grabbed Kiona in a unsavory place and she gasped, opening her mouth to scream, but the man placed his hand over her mouth.

His hand smelt of the same sharp scents Kiona saw her mother drink, along with a strange tinge of smoke. "Ah, ah, ah, wouldn't wanna wake Mommy," he teased, working her clothes off her. "She'll be mad, and when she hits you, it wouldn't even compare to how hard I will." Kiona began shake, tears welling in her eyes.

"Don't worry," he whispered, making chills run down the small girl's spine. "You're going to love it, trust me."

~•~•~•~

The next day when Kiona arrived at school, Frisk noticed something very off about Kiona. Her eyes had been bloodshot and she was limping, again. When she finally — _carefully_ — sat down, Frisk noticed that Kiona's hands had been trembling.

Frisk furrowed their eyebrows, "Kiona?" No response. She didn't even glance her way. "Kiona, are you okay?" Kiona didn't reply. In fact, she barely spoke a word the entire day. Her voice was much quiet than usual and she didn't make eye contact with anyone. When their maths teacher called on her to answer a question, Kiona didn't say a word. When they sat at lunch and Frisk offered their food, she barely took a bite. She opened her journal three times in the entire day, and which really worried Frisk.

This didn't stop Frisk, however. They kept talking to them the entire day, whenever they got the chance, even though it had been really one-sided. They would spout jokes they heard from Sans, which Kiona used to laugh to, sometimes. Other times, she's just stare at them, confused.

This time, Kiona didn't laugh. She didn't react. She didn't smile, she didn't giggle. Frisk opted for a funny story, and received the same reactions.

Finally, dismissal rolled around, and Frisk got up to go to the meeting room. What they didn't expect, was for Kiona to snap.

Kiona began to scream and cry, throwing her books on the ground. She successfully gained the attention of their teacher, who had been lounging in his chair. He stood and tried to calm the girl down, but she was having none of it.

Soon, a few teachers came to settle the child, but she was too busy sobbing and shouting. She spoke absolute gibberish, but Frisk was able to make out her screaming ' _no_ ' and ' _stop_ ' several times.

Finally, she was dragged to the office, which took eight teachers and the school's nurse. Frisk tried to go with them, wanting nothing bad to happen to their best friend, but of course, the teachers wouldn't allow it.

Frisk stared miserably at the door. The classroom, which had gone silent began to rise in chatter again, everyone whispering over the same thing, and it made Frisk clench their fists angrily, but they couldn't help wondering it too.

... _What was_ that _about?_

~•~•~•~

During Kiona's angry fit, someone contacted her mother, who, Kiona knew, was in the middle of a class. Kiona waited, still crying, in the lobby area of the principal's office. Nearly thirty minutes passed before the door was opened and someone stepped in.

"Hello, what can I do for you, sir?" The secretary greeted perkily, smiling at the man. Kiona stared, her face horror-stricken, watching as her mother's boyfriend, Zackiery, he said his name was, standing in front of her, flirting shamelessly with the young, blonde secretary.

Kiona had no clue that her mother would tell him to pick her up from school. After he provided the woman with the immediate identification she needed, he was allowed to take Kiona out of the school.

For a second, Kiona stayed in her seat, staring at him. That is, until he sent a small, yet very scary, glare at her. Kiona jumped up, her hands shaking as she walked over to his side.

"Bye, Kiona, dear!" The secretary called behind her, but she didn't answer and the office door was closed.

~•~•~•~

Kiona was shaking the entire ride back home, and once they arrived, she was crying. Zackiery ushered her into the house roughly, pulling her arm — practically dragging her inside — before slamming the door loudly behind him.

"Did you think I was fucking _playing_ when I told you I'd beat you harder than your mother ever could!?" Zackiery hissed, using her arm to drag her into the air with only the tips of her toes barely touching the ground. From this position, Zackiery used Kiona a human punchbag. Kiona screamed and cried with every blow, but he didn't stop his momentum.

After about ten minutes when his arm was tired from holding her up and Kiona had been coughing up blood, he took it upon himself to repeat his venomous actions from the night previous. The night before, Kiona had the luxury to fall unconscious in the middle of the assault. However this time, she was given no grace, and Zackiery kept her awake the entire time.

By the time he had finished he sent Kiona to her room and when she didn't move fast enough, he... 'Assisted' her. Minutes later, Hoana arrived, fuming from the school's phone call, but Zackiery was able to change his attention to hisself and Hoana didn't blink twice before falling for it.

~•~•~•~

For two months Frisk watched as Kiona slowly got quieter and quieter. Sometimes, she would miss school, but now she didn't have a reason for it. Some days, she would attend school with her arms and other parts of her body morbidly decorated in bruises. It seemed as if Kiona had suddenly detected herself from reality. When teachers called on her for answers to questions Frisk knew Kiona knew, she stayed silent. And if the teacher began to reprimand her for not answering, Kiona didn't say anything, however she did begin to tremble slightly.

Over the span of two months, Kiona had developed a strange ability to see people but... _Not_ see them at the same time. She listened but was deaf to their words. She was there... Yet also seemed to be like a ghost. As if the real Kiona — the Kiona that loved giraffes and drawing and talking and eating pie with Frisk — had been blown away by the smallest zephyr. The present Kiona seemed to be like a shadow, a mere mirage of who Kiona used to be; who Kiona had now became.

Frisk wouldn't allow it. Frisk refused to accept that this... This _misconception_ , this _illusion_ was Kiona. This was not their friend. This was not the Kiona they knew.

Frisk made a vow to find out what was going on; what caused Kiona to somehow... Disappear. Frisk made a vow to put a end to whatever was causing so much pain in Kiona's life. Frisk made a vow to find whoever did this...

... And _end_ them.


	3. - three -

**Chapter Three:**

Soon, the chilly, autumn months had past and Ebott City's infamous harsh winters had begun.

This year it came a bit earlier than usual, with the first snow being two weeks after the beginning of November. Toriel made sure that Frisk was tightly bundled, not wanting them to catch a cold. Frisk, however, noticed that Kiona did not come to school wearing a winter coat, in fact, she had just worn the same shirt and long pants every day since Frisk arrived at the school.

Frisk offered Kiona their own coat, but she didn't accept it. She simply stared straight through them, which had unnerved them a bit, but they didn't comment on it.

Kiona had began to be very quiet in the past two or so months. Quiet enough that it definitely scared Frisk. She no longer spoke of the giraffes that she so dearly loved, she no longer drew in her journal or played with Frisk. She simply stared, becoming a hollow shell of the person she used to be.

Sometimes, Frisk would catch her crying, but Frisk could never find out why. Whenever they tried to comfort her, she would quickly cover it up, pretend like they were never there.

Soon, November came and passed, leaving the festive month of December, which meant the holiday season was coming. Frisk was excited for the season, already deciding that for Christmas, they would give Kiona a big, stuffed giraffe they saw at the mall.

After a decent amount of pleading with their mother, Toriel finally decided that they would be able to go to the store, two weeks before Christmas.

They had planned to go on Friday evening, but unfortunately, there had been a rather intense, unexpected snowstorm that night, so they opted for the morning after.

Frisk was ecstatic the entire time. They found the oversized giraffe they wanted along with a few fitting Christmas gifts for some of their other monster friends, and payed for it via allowance. Before they left, they stopped by Miss Muffet's café, who was having a sale on hot spider cider drinks, to warm up any customers. Toriel treated Frisk to a big cup of the hot spider cider, with whipped cream while she and Miss Muffet conversed.

Frisk and Toriel left around three PM with a box of Miss Muffet's favorite spider-themed treats in tow. As they walked back home, Frisk suggests that they should pass through the rather empty park. Toriel was rather against the idea, but after a few promises, and begging, she finally folded and they began to stroll through the park grounds.

After about five minutes of walking through the park and admiring its snowy foliage, Frisk heard a pair of familiar voices. "Nyeh heh heh! Look brother! I have made a snow-skeleton!" Frisk and Toriel turned to see the familiar large skeleton crouched down, sculpting in the snow.

Papyrus wore his usual outfit, which consisted of his unusual armour that was bulky and lined with yellow, and he had his red gloves on that was soggy already, dripping in snow. His scarf was wrapped tight around his neck, and when he saw the duo, he beamed. "Oh hello small human! How are you doing?"

"Good!" Frisk perked, "Can I play with Paps, mom?"

"Of course," Toriel smiled, "Just don't get too wet. I don't want you getting sick now."

"Got it!" Frisk ran over to their skeleton friend, helping to build up the snow-skeleton.

"Hey Tori," A deep baritone voice greeted from the bench. Toriel glanced over to see Sans sitting there, grinning at her. He was wearing his usual blue sweatshirt, black undershirt, with grey shorts and pink slippers. Sans moved down on the bench to allow the goat monster to sit beside him.

"Hello Sans!" Toriel smiled. "How are you?"

"Fine. Just _chillin_ '." Toriel giggled, at his pun.

"It is cold out, but I suppose since you are a skeleton it's _snow problem_." Sans chuckled at Toriel's joke.

"Please refrain from provoking my brother!" Papyrus exclaimed, having overheard their corny jokes. "Once he starts he—"

"Don't worry Paps, I won't say a snow pun," Sans replied, and Papyrus perked up.

"Really!? Wowie, brother I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Yep. They're getting kinda _cold_ now." Papyrus' face went completely red and he yelled angrily in frustration, making the other three laugh in response.

~•~•~•~

Papyrus and Frisk played in the snow for about a half hour before it had began to snow again. Noticing the change in weather, the four quickly began to walk home before it got too cold. Sans and Papyrus offered for them to stay at their apartment, since it was not five minutes from the park, since Toriel's house had been at least a ten to fifteen minute walk — it would be much longer in the snow too. Toriel gratefully accepted as they hurried to the apartment.

The snow began to fall faster as they continued their walk. With all four of them being in such a hurry, none of them seemed to noticed a small bundle curled up on a bench as they passed.

Well, _almost_ didn't notice.

Frisk stopped in their tracks. Whoever it was was small and slightly shivering. Frisk ruffled their eyebrows, approaching the bench. Frisk being the ' _Good Samaritan_ ' decided that it would be best to get whoever it was inside and fast. They could get _seriously_ sick out here.

Then, Frisk noticed the long sister locks that had been slightly unveiled by the snow, and the faded yellow smiling sun shirt.

" _Kiona_!?" Frisk cried, shaking the girl, who was almost completely covered in snow. At the surprised exclamation, the other three adults turned Frisk's way.

"What is wrong, my child?" Toriel asked, as Frisk tried to lift the frail, trembling girl off the bench.

"Oh, no. Oh, my _god_ , Kiona!" Frisk cried. Kiona was deathly pale and cold to the touch, her dark lips were blue that matched her fingers. Her eyelashes seemed to be frosted over and frozen shut, as if she had been thawing from a block of ice. Despite this almost comatose state, the girl was still slightly shivering, and breathed shallowly. Her clothes were wet and frozen to her skin.

"Kiona! Wake up!" Frisk cried helplessly, but the girl was not awaken. Toriel came to Frisk's side, touching the child's face with her paw.

"Oh my, she's ice cold!" Toriel exclaimed, "We need to get her inside, fast."

"I can get us all back to the apartment," Sans said immediately, but Toriel shook her head.

"No, she can't be teleported — not in this condition," Toriel carefully lifted the child off the bench and began to run, holding the girl right to her chest, so she wouldn't be jolted with her long strides. Papyrus led the way to their apartment, making it in a record breaking two minutes!

Sans had been practically dying by the time they got there, inhaling oxygen as if it had been burning away, but he fished his keys out of his pocket and shoved them in his lock. Toriel began barking orders almost immediately.

"Sans, turn on the heat. Papyrus, get me all the blankets you can find. Frisk, find me all the medicine that you can," she ordered as she placed the child on the sofa in front of the television. "Sans, do you have a sweater or something she could wear?"

"Yeah," he said after he cranked the heat up to ninety degrees. "Upst—"

"Get it." He teleported away, and came back a few seconds later with the large red and white sweater in hand. Simultaneously, Papyrus ran into the room with bundles of heavy blankets in his arms.

"Will this do?" He asked.

"Yes, that's perfect, thank you," Toriel smiled as she began to carefully strip the girl's wet clothes off her. Instantly, she began to moan in her sleep — the first sign of life she had shown.

"S... St–St–Stop..." She shivered, weakly clutching her shirt.

"I must get you out of these clothes, my child," Toriel explained, and suddenly, she began to cry, tremble violently.

"P–P–Pl–Please... N–No..." Kiona moaned, tears slipping past her cold cheeks.

Toriel's soul broke at the sight, and she gently wiped the tears away, "Please do not cry. I will not hurt you. I am trying to help." The girl began to gasp for air, and Toriel could hear her weak lungs rattling, struggling with every breath.

Toriel simply waited until the girl stopped moaning and slipped further into unconsciousness and took the shirt off the girl. "... Sans. Could you check on Frisk for me, please," Toriel asked softly, not turning his way.

"Course," he mumbled, almost glad for a reason to get out of the room. Toriel sniffed, wiping her own tears away as she took the rest of the wet cloths off the girl and replaced them with Sans' oversized sweatshirt, then quickly began to individually bundle her in blankets.

~•~•~•~

"Hypothermia, malnourishment, frostbite, and most likely pneumonia, judging by her coughing," Toriel told Sans as she glance back and forth from the shivering girl to the skeleton. "And with that, there were several bruises all over her body. Thanks to the cold, most of the swelling went down but..." Toriel inhaled, shaking her head. "What kind of human could be so horrible... So _abusive_ towards a _child_?"

"... I don't know Tori," Sans admitted, and glanced down at the girl, who had still been shivering, despite wearing heavy clothes and being wrapped in several blankets like a burrito. "Do ya think she'll explain it when she wakes up?"

Toriel shook her head, "I don't know. From what Frisk said, she's autistic and apparently has been very depressed lately and had gone partially mute. They don't know why, or what's happening, but whenever they had tried to bring it up, she wouldn't respond. Whatever's been happening to her at school must be the cause of her condition now."

"Is it domestic abuse?" Sans asked, but Toriel shrugged.

"It's too early to decide anything. That may be the answer, but it's also very likely that she could've gotten taken from her home, or got lost and ended up in the a wrong place, at the wrong time." Toriel took another look at the girl and sighed, "She's... Just so young."

"I know," Sans murmured. "But, she's out of danger now. It's been two days, she'll wake up soon." Toriel gave a reluctant nod, and wiped at her eyes when a few traitorous tears slipped past.

Toriel let out a loud yawn, "Sorry," she laughed.

"No prob. Why don't you go lie down? I can watch 'er for a bit."

Toriel smiled, "I'd appreciate it. Thank you, Sans." Toriel planted a small kiss on the top of the skeleton's head, making him go rigid. A blue blush emerged on his face, and he looked away.

"Li–Like I said. It ain't hurtin' me none. Besides, this sack o' bones needs to do some work anyway." Toriel chuckled, and disappeared into the other room.

Sans pulled up a chair and grabbed the astronomy library book off the table from where he'd left it a few days ago and began to read.

~•~•~•~

Kiona felt weird. She felt... How _did_ she feel? She's never felt this before. Kiona struggled to open her eyes, but after a few minutes, she was finally able to crack them open, only to be exposed to blinding lights. Kiona winced, letting out a small whine. She heard something shift and move.

Several minutes had passed before Kiona was finally able to see again. She was staring at a ceiling. It was white, but decorated in red stains in some areas. Strange.

"Hey kid," a soft voice said beside her. Kiona jumped, but with all the blankets, it looked like a big shiver. "Ya finally awake, huh?" The voice was deep and gentle. It sounded like Zackiery's.

Kiona's eyes widened, he was back! Kiona tried to pull at the blankets keeping her constricted, despite the warmth it brought. "Hey, whoa, whoa, hey!" The man exclaimed, pushing his hands on the blankets so she couldn't move anymore.

Kiona started at the hands. White. Bony. She... She didn't understand. Where _was_ she!? Who was he? Was he like _Zackiery_!? Kiona began to shake, thinking about the man and his lewd actions against her. " _Noooo_..." Her voice sounded strange against Kiona's own ears. Her throat was sore and she began to cough, mucus raising in his throat. "St–Stop... _Nooo_..."

"I'm not gonna hurt ya kid," the man coaxed. "Calm down, 'kay?" His words meant nothing to her. Kiona was too busy shaking, tears welling in her eyes. She didn't want to go back to him! She didn't want to be hurt again. She wanted to go home!!

The couch shifted and the man sat beside her, placing her head in his lap. Then, he began to stroke her hair, and hum gently to her. Kiona tensed, the actions he was doing was unfamiliar to her, but somehow... She slowly began to calm down. She hadn't stopped crying or coughing, but she did stop shaking. Kiona turned her head slowly towards the man. He looked down at her. Kiona didn't know what he was.

His skin was a milky white and his head free of any hair. His eyes were dark, but there was a small white dot in them, and he was smiling. He didn't look like he could stop, actually. Although the smile seemed to vary in size, it was still the same smile. Kiona could also see his blue hoodie, which was very... _Warm_. So warm Kiona snuggled into it, and let out a shuddering breath.

"Heh, good job kid," the mysterious man smiled. "I knew ya could do it." He hadn't stopped stroking her hair. Kiona slowly snaked her hand out of the blankets. His hand went still as she gently grabbed it and brought it into her vision.

His fingers were as white as his face, but they had ridges small in them. Kiona slowly squeezed it, finding that it was rather soft, like her own fingers. Kiona looked back at the man, who was staring at her. Then, she squeezed it again, a bit harder, making it turn a bit blue for a second before fading away.

Kiona let out a small giggle and did it again, her eyes wide with fascination. Again, it turned blue, this time a bit darker, and stayed a little longer. Kiona continued to play with his hand for what seemed like forever, giggling softly every time. Suddenly, Kiona's stomach rumbled painfully and Kiona winced, curling in on the man and shaking.

"Ya hungry?" Kiona didn't reply. "Tori made some soup just for ya." The man began to stand up. "It should be in the fridge so—" Kiona began to cry again, and he looked back down at her. "Oh, come on, kid, don't start cryin' again. What's wrong?" Kiona held unto his hoodie with her weak grip.

"H... He's go–gonna co–co–come back," Kiona sobbed, and the man sat back down.

"Who's gonna come back? Nobody's here to hurt ya, kid."

"Za–Zack...—He's go–gonna...— _Noo_..." The man sighed, probably not understanding a word she said.

"I don't know any _'Zack_ ', but if he was the one that did this to ya, then he's not gonna be around here any time soon." Kiona continued to shake her head, tears rising again.

" _Good morning, brother_!" A new voice exclaimed, and Kiona jumped, her eyes widened. "How is the cold human doing?"

Kiona began to cry again, gripping his shirt in her small fists, " _Nooo_..." The man looked down at her and then back up.

"Hey, bro, could ya do me a favour and go get that soup outta the kitchen?" The man asked, trying to ignore how Kiona was clawing into his sweater crying and moaning, " _No_ ," over and over again.

The new man obviously heard as he rose an eyebrow. "Is that the cold human? Is she awake!?" Kiona began to sink into the blankets, using them to cover her head.

"Paps, please," the man said, almost begging him now. Noticing the urgency in his voice, the new man did as the man said. Kiona heard his heavy footsteps walk away, and she shivered, "That's it, isn't it? You're afraid of men?" Kiona didn't reply, but her silence was enough of a answer for him. "What... Did they do to ya to make ya _that_ scared?" He whispered, rubbing the blankets she was hiding under. No response, of course.

The heavy footsteps returned, but there was no speaking now. Kiona felt the man move something and a second later, he peeled the blankets back, and held a spoon out to her. "Ya hungry, right?" Kiona tried to sit up, but was immediately hit with a wave of nausea, and fell back down. Her eyes were fixed on the spoon, though. She could feel her heart begin to race at the smell of food, her mouth watering, and her nose flaring.

The man easily helped her up, leaning her against his shoulder, and easily put the spoon in her mouth. The contents were rather hot as it went down her throat, Kiona almost had a hard time swallowing it.

The man kept feeding her gently, but after a few more spoonfuls, Kiona refused to eat anymore. "Aren't ya hungry, kid?" She didn't answer, but she did lean into him, closing her eyes. "C'mon kiddo, eat a few more." Kiona frowned, but downed two more spoonfuls before she rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep in seconds.


	4. - four -

**Chapter Four:**

When Kiona woke up, the strange man was gone, and she was laying back down. Kiona glanced to her side. Frisk was in a chair beside the couch, snoring lightly, their head bobbing up and down. Kiona stared at them, almost curiously. Kiona had seen her mother sleep in chair like that all the time, but when she did it, she smelled bad, like she was sick. Was Frisk sick!?

Kiona reached out to wake them up, but then stopped herself, just before it touched their cheek. When she did that to her mother, she would always be angry with her. Kiona retraced her hand, but her finger brushed against Frisk's face and their eyes fluttered open.

Kiona gasped, and shrunk away in the blankets, trying to hide from her friend. "Kiona? Are you awake?" Kiona didn't reply to her friend's calls, only managing to shrink herself further into the couch, hoping they wouldn't see her. "Do you want something to eat, Kiona? Mom made some food to help you feel better while you were sleeping." Kiona said nothing, and Frisk sighed heavily. "Well... Do you at least wanna do something? We can draw some giraffes, if you want." Kiona froze at the word, but shrunk away again.

Kiona heard footsteps enter the room and she tensed, her breathing escalating. "Is she awake? I heard you talking," a new voice said. This one sounded almost familiar, and reminded Kiona of her mother.

Kiona peeked her head out of the blankets, looking around, "M... M–Mo... _Mommy_?" Kiona croaked, her voice sounding terrible, as if someone had rubbed sandpaper through her throat.

A woman came into Kiona's view. She was tall — but from her perspective, everyone seemed tall — and was furry all over her body. She wore a purple dress with sleeves that had a strange design on the front. Her features were soft, but she had horns on her head and flappy ears on the sides.

The strange woman looked at Kiona chuckled, "I am sorry but I am not your mother. My name is Toriel Dreemur. I am _Frisk's_ mother." Kiona stared at the woman, she held so much grace with her voice and beauty on her features that Kiona began to cry deliriously. Rather shocked by the girl's sudden change in mood, Toriel surprisedly blinked.

"Why do not cry, my child," Toriel whispered, coming to the girl's aid. Toriel caressing the girl's cold cheeks with her paws, smiling her gentle, caring smile at her. "Do not worry. You must miss your mother, hmm? We will get you back home as soon as possible then." Kiona nodded, and Toriel kneeled straighter beside the bed.

"I must check to see if your injuries has healed any," Toriel said. "I need to remove the blankets for a minute." Toriel gently grabbed the end of the blanket she was contained in, and began to take the layers off her one by one. Once she had gotten to the last layer, Kiona began to shiver, curling tighter in on herself. "Do not worry, my child, my magic will give you warmth." Toriel placed her paws hands over Kiona and she flinched away, curling in on herself. Toriel tried not to notice and began to use her magic to make heat radiate from her hands. Slowly, Kiona uncurled on herself and relax, as if she had been resting with a living heating pad on top of her.

"May I check your injuries now, my child?" Toriel asked, her sweet voice melting away Kiona's fears. Although she didn't respond, she also didn't protest when Toriel began to check the bandages around her torso and arms. "Tell me if it hurts, alright?" Toriel gently pressed down on the wound, but the girl didn't respond. Frowning, she move to another, getting the same, stale reaction.

Toriel sighed and began to use her healing magic on the girl — something she specialized in as well. Warmth spread all throughout Kiona's body, even going down to her toes. She giggled, which had been the most of a reaction they had gotten from the girl, and snuggled towards Toriel. The female monster smiled, stroking the child's head comfortingly. Kiona's tired eyes fluttered closed and she quickly fell sleep.

~•~•~•~

Kiona dreamed of Zackiery. He was hurting her again — he was touching her again. She felt helpless as he stripped down her clothes, and shook himself out of his too.

Kiona began to tremble, fear clouding her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut. Go away! Kiona cried, but her voice failed her. She felt his hands roaming over her uncovered body, and she sobbed in terror, her entire body trembling. Kiona cried out for her mother, but she wasn't here for her aid. Kiona cried out to anyone — someone! Don't let him touch her! Don't let him hurt her! _Don't let him_ —

" _Kiona_?"

Kiona gasped, sitting up, clutching her chest and falling into a heavy coughing fit. Someone quickly came to her side, rubbing her back as she hacked up mucus and blood. "It's okay, it was just a dream. It's over now," they spoke soothingly to her. Kiona couldn't stop shaking, however. The image of Zackiery still plastered into her mind.

Kiona gagged at the thought and not a second later, vomited. Somehow, a trash can appeared before her, allowing her to dump the minimalistic amount of food in her stomach into the trash can. Kiona leaned back, breathing heavily. "That bad, huh?" Kiona didn't answer the stranger. She did peek an eye at them, surprised to find the strange man from earlier.

He caught her gaze, his smile broadening. "Never really got to introduce myself, huh? 'M Sans. Sans the skeleton." Kiona noticed how dark it was. The lights were turned out, except for one in the other room, casting a shadow on her.

Kiona managed a weak smile, "D... Debbie say–says... De–Debbie says hi," she giggled hoarsely. Sans gave her a bit of a peculiar look, but smiled now.

"Hey Debbie. I'm Sans."

Kiona giggled again, "Deb–Debbie likes Sa—" her words were cut off by an intense coughing fit, which resulted in Sans rubbing her back again and her spitting into the trash bin. Once she had finally finished, Kiona looked at Sans, "S... Sans is going to... To take me to... Zackiery, right Sans?"

Sans looked confused for a moment, "Zackiery?" Kiona weakly leaned on his shoulder, her eyes half lidded.

"He... He doesn't li–like giraffes..."

"Is... Zackiery the one who did this to ya?" Sans asked carefully.

Kiona was silent for a second, "Mo–Mommy likes Zackiery... Do I like Zackiery? I... Zackiery isn't nice..."

"What did he do, Kiona?" Sans asked, his deep voice soft and careful, yet also very concerned.

"Zackiery... He lik–likes to touch me..." Kiona shivered at the thought. "I tell him... I tell him no, but he... I..."

"... Where does he touch you, Kiona?"

"I... I don't know, I..." Kiona looked down, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "Please... I–I don't know, I don't... I don't know... I—"

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry," Sans said, immediately, noticing how flustered the child was becoming. "Why don't we talk about something else, huh? _Giraffes_ , you like giraffes, yeah? I–I don't know what that is but Frisk knows a lot on it. Is it a book? Or a–a _show_? Maybe we can look it up an—"

"He's _coming_ ," Kiona whispered, tears growing in her eyes, "D–Don't let hi–him take me! I–I don't, I—"

Sans pulled out his phone and stylus, launching Google. "Giraffes sound really fun, ya know. I don't have a _clue_ what it is, but it sounds really great. What do ya like about giraffes?" He finally pulled up a picture and showed it to her.

The picture glowed in the darkness, making the girl squint a little, but she stopped crying and stared at the screen. A photograph of a orange animal with black spots and a long neck shone on the screen. It stood next to a large tree, probably eating the leaves off the branches. "That's a giraffe, right? It's an animal?" Kiona exhaled slowly, her lungs rattling with a cough. "Do ya—Do ya like it?"

"G... _Giraffe_ ," Kiona whispered, she began to tear up again, and Sans panicked.

"No! No, why are ya cryin'!?" He exclaimed frantically, dropping his phone into the girl's lap. Kiona picked up the phone carefully, swiping at the screen, showing a different picture of a slightly shorter giraffe. Kiona giggled, making Sans' shoulders sag with relief.

Kiona and Sans continued to look at giraffes all night long. Some were cartoons, other were photographs. Sans was even able to find a video for her to watch of a giraffe eating, which made her squeal weakly with joy. Her omnivorous interest in the African animal was interesting. Sans tried to get her to go to sleep, but she refused, complaining that she wanted to see more giraffes. Sans couldn't refuse her, so they just watched national geographic documentaries all night long.

Toriel had been a bit upset to hear that Kiona hadn't gotten any rest, and Sans was the cause of it. This resulted in her berating Sans and Kiona spending the entire day asleep.

~•~•~•~

Kiona woke up again early in the morning of the next day. Nobody — not even Sans — had been awake. Frisk and Toriel usually went home in the afternoon, coming back early to check on her, leaving only Sans and... The other man in the small house.

Kiona slowly slipped off the bed, shivering when her toes hit the freezing cold floor. Kiona folded her arms and began to explore the house curiously. She saw the kitchen — the light had been turned off — and three rooms down the hall, two of which had doors closed. One of the rooms had a light on, and Kiona peeked inside. It was a simple tile bathroom.

Kiona went to the nearest room beside the bathroom, slowly twisting the cold doorknob open. The room was dark — minus the little moonlight that shone in from the window — and the floor was beyond messy. It was covered in trash, discarded clothing, papers, et cetera. Kiona stepped past it, her toes curling into the carpeted floors.

Slowly, she approached the bed, finding Sans' sleeping figure strewn across the mattress. Kiona blinked. When she was younger and her father hadn't left yet, she remembered slipping into her parents' bed. Neither of them seemed to mind at all, really, so... Maybe Sans wouldn't either.

Kiona pushed herself up in the bed and crawled under the blankets. Sans felt the sudden change in weight and his eyes fluttered open, staring groggily at the young girl who was now occupying half of his bed.

For a minute, he didn't quite know what he was seeing and simply stared at her. "... _Kiona_."

Kiona giggled, " _Sans_."

"Why... Why are ya in my bed, Kiona?"

Kiona smile, "I didn't wa... Want to be alone! So–so, I found to Sans! Can we watch the giraffes now, Sans?"

"No, kid, it's... Sleepin' time, so ya need to go to _sleep_ ," Sans chided tiredly.

"I don't want to go–go to sleep!" Kiona cried, then began to cough a little. "We can watch giraffes, Sans."

"No, we're _not_ ," Sans argued. "'M tired, kid. I need to go to sleep. You need to go to sleep." Sans stretched, yawning heavily and Kiona's attention drifted down to his chest, her eyes widening. "What are ya—"

Kiona touched his ribcage, and he stiffened. When she pulled her finger away, he felt something pull at his soul, and it revealed itself from his chest. Sans quickly tried to push it back, but Kiona's eyes were fixed on it. She slowly touched it again, almost curiously.

Sans only stared as he watched his upside-down, white monster soul gradually tint green, almost as if it were becoming a human soul! Sans' curious and surprised gaze softened at her. She was just a kid, after all. Sure, this was really intimate and strange, but what could he do about it? It wasn't like he was going to yell at her an—

Suddenly, Kiona's hand slumped to the bed, her eyes closed. Simultaneously, his out of character thoughts halted and his eyes refocused. What just happened?

The white quickly returned back to its original colour and safely hidden in his chest. Sans stared at the girl, who had suddenly fallen fast asleep, doing all that must've made her exhausted, like he was when he used his abilities.

Sans stared back at his chest, when his soul changed colors, his emotions changed as well. Did she have magic? Ever since the barrier broke, a few young humans, usually a few years younger than Kiona herself, had began to develop magical attributes, which is what caused Toriel to start a class in her school for humans and monsters still learning to use their magic. Anyone with magic did not fit in Kiona's age range as far as Sans knew, so how did someone like her have the ability to do something... Like that?!

Sans placed a hand on her chest, pulling out her soul, which was easier, and much faster, than she had done. It was so fast and smooth, in fact, that she couldn't even feel it.

Sans stared at the bobbing heart in front of him, his eyes wide as the soul illuminated his bony features. Kiona's soul wasn't like anything he had seen, it was so different, that it concerned him.

Sans pushed the glowing heart back in the girl's chest and teleported her back to the couch quickly. He quickly meticulously wrapped her in the blanket, managing to keep her asleep, and returned to his bedroom.

Sans snatched the phone off its charger and quickly dialed Toriel's number. After a few rings, she finally picked up, "... _Sans_?" Toriel's voice sounded groggy and tired. No doubt, she was asleep. " _What is it? Did something happen_?"

"No. I mean, yeah, ugh, look. Somethin' is... Wrong with 'er. Well, I don't wanna say wrong, but, it's weird an—"

" _Sans, what is it?"_ Toriel's tired voice sounded serious now, losing any traces of weariness.

"It's Kiona... 'Er soul... It's–It's _empty_."

~•~•~•~

"What do you mean her soul is empty, Sans?" Toriel asked. Kiona was sleeping in Sans' room, since she refused to get out of his bed. Frisk had to finish a winter break packet, and Papyrus offered to help. This allowed the two to talk privately.

"It's, ah, hard to explain, but... Ya know how human souls usually have a trait — _justice, kindness, patience,_ et cetera." Toriel nodded, this was the same thing Alphys was studying now, and even experimenting to learn more about these traits. "Well, when I looked at Kiona's, she didn't have a trait. It was like it was empty, and... I dunno how to explain it, I've never seen anything like it, Tori."

"Is this... _Bad_?" Toriel asked.

Sans shrugged, "Dunno. Never seen it. We definitely need to take 'er to Alphys, when they get back, she'll want to see 'er soul."

"Undyne and Alphys should be back before Christmas," Toriel replied, "I will ask her if she could take a look at the girl when she does." Toriel paused for a second, "I hope Kiona doesn't get upset though. I don't know how she'll react to doctors and the like."

"She'll be fine," Sans smiled, "I'm sure she'll love meeting Alphys. They both—" a tugging near his side made Sans jump, his bones stiffening as he looked down. It had only been Kiona, and she was rubbing her eyes tiredly, probably just waking up.

"San–Sans, can... Can we watch the–the giraffes again?" Kiona asked sleepily, obviously haven't quite yet woken up.

"Gee, kid, gimme a heart attack, why don't'cha," Sans muttered, glancing at Toriel, who had to cover her mouth to conceal her obvious giggles. Sans chuckled, rolling the white pin-pricks in his eye sockets that could only be compared to an iris or a pupil. "Hey, why aren't ya wearing any socks? I told ya that ya gonna get even sicker if ya don't put some socks on!"

Kiona giggled, wiggling her bare toes, "They made my feet feel weird and I–I wanted to watch the giraffes! Giraffes don't wear socks Sans, no Sans, they don't!"

Sans pouted playfully, "Ya must _woolly_ be kiddin' me!" Kiona burst into giggles, and even Toriel chuckled at the joke. "That's the _silkiest_ thing I've ever heard!" Toriel snorted and Kiona squealed with laughter.

"Come on! Let's watch — let's watch the giraffes!!" Kiona cried, pulling Sans hand.

The skeleton turned to Toriel and chuckled, "I guess I'm going to go watch some giraffes then."

Toriel laughed as well, "I will call Alphys and ask her if she is willing to give her a check-up."

"Thanks Tori," Sans smiled, and Toriel winked. "I'm sure Frisk needs help with their winter break packet, so ya better get back. I'll babysit Kiona for a while."

"You are right," Toriel smiled. "I am glad that you are my friend, Sans. I'll always know you babysitting skills are... _Spot_ on." Sans couldn't help but let out a hoot of laughter at that.


	5. - five -

**Chapter Five:**

Kiona had began to show more energy physically as the days went on. She was roaming around Sans and Papyrus' home more willingly, eating a bit more, and even communicating. Although her two favourite places seemed to be Sans' bed and the living room couch, Kiona had started to warm up a little to Papyrus — but only just a little; his loudness always startled her.

Papyrus loved the attention, even if it was just a little. He had been trying to win Kiona's approval and trust for several days now. Now, she was finally giving him the chance and he loved it.

Because of the heavy snowing that seemed to only get worse after Kiona came to temporarily live with the skeleton brothers, Toriel and Frisk weren't always able to visit her, especially without proper transportation, but Kiona didn't seem to mind at all. With all the snow, Sans' several jobs usually allowed him to get off early — or not even come in at all! — so it allowed him and Kiona to spend more time together.

Kiona _liked_ this. Sans and Papyrus were home. Papyrus was in the kitchen, making Snow-spaghetti, and Kiona laid against Sans' shoulder, her eyes half-asleep and half watching the cartoon Sans put on for her. She felt peaceful as she snuggled into shoulder.

Sans noticed this and chuckled, "Gettin' cozy, huh?" Kiona didn't reply, and let her eyes drift shut and fell into a peaceful sleep.

... That is, until the door swung open, nearly falling off its hinges and hitting the other side of the wall with a loud bang. Kiona jumped as two people quickly entered the room.

One of them was a large woman with facial features resembling a blue fish. Her skin was scaled and her ears seemed more like... Fins with ear canals. Her hair was a deep, scarlet red, pixie-cut hair with bangs parted to the side. Her eyes were a golden yellow that had a cat-like slit in them. She wore a rather exotic shirt that was dyed several colours, blue jeans, and a thick, coat with a asymmetrical zipper on the fronts.

The person beside her was much shorter than the fish-like woman was. She was yellow and resembled some sort of tyrannosaurs rex, but looked much smaller and her arms were longer. She wore a identical dyed shirt like the fish woman had, but she had a coat with a different pattern on it, and a heavy coat that had the collars of a lab coat peeking out underneath. Her eyes were a soft brown, showing much more patience and maturity than her fish friend. A pair of round glasses were bridged on her nose securely, and her nose turned up into a snout.

Kiona went ridged when the door opened, hiding her face in Sans' arm. "Hey _dork_! Tori said—"

" _Shh_!" Sans hissed, then turned to Kiona, "It's okay, Kiona, they didn't know."

"Th–That's her?" Alphys spoke up, surprised.

Papyrus appeared from the other room, a smile wide on his face, " _Undyne_!" The fish woman lost all interest in Kiona and turned to the tall skeleton.

"Hey, Paps! What's up?" She grinned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"We discovered a new, cold human, nyeh-heh-heh!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Yeah, Tori told us about her. Said something was wrong with her soul, or whatever. Al was supposed to have a look at her, right, Al...?" Undyne turned around, but she was missing. In fact, she, Sans, and the kid disappeared. It wasn't hard to deduce that Sans had teleported them away.

~•~•~•~

Sans placed Kiona on the bed. She seemed to be less scared now, and was looking around, confused. "Wh–Why did you d–do that, Sans!?" Alphys exclaimed.

"You guys were overwhelmin' 'er," Sans explained, pulling up his emergency pictures and videos of giraffes on his phone and handed it to Kiona. Kiona's face lit up instantly, as she swiped through them, giggling. Whatever fear she once felt had been extinguished.

Sans turned back to Alphys, "She's _autistic_ , and she doesn't know how to take things sometimes. If you guys show up like that, she could have a really bad panic attack."

Alphys hung her head in shame, twisting her fingers, "Ri–Right. Sorry, I fo–forgot."

Sans sighed, "It's okay, just... Keep that in mind."

"Go–Got it," Alphys nodded. "Do y–you still want me–me to take a–a look at he–her soul?"

Sans nodded and focused his attention on Kiona again, who was giggling at a rather cute picture of a baby giraffe. "Hey, kid, this is a friend of mines. 'Er name is Alphys, do ya think it'll be okay if she gives ya a little check-up?" Kiona looked up, confused. "She's just gonna see if ya still hurt, then we can look at some more giraffes. I found a movie full of 'em, actually, and we can watch it after ya check-up, okay?"

Kiona grinned, nodding at the thought of a movie completely dedicated to giraffes. Alphys stepped forward and gave the girl a smile, "Hello, I'm—"

"Are you gonna watch giraffes with Kiona too?" Kiona asked, cutting her off.

Alphys blinked at the sudden interruption, but smiled, "Yeah, of co–course, but first let's g–give you a ch–check-up, okay?" Kiona nodded, smiling to herself. Alphys drew out her soul cleanly, making a small heart, as big as Kiona's fist appear before her. It bobbed up and down, and seemed completely translucent, had it not been the vague outline that signaled it was there.

"W–Wow..." Alphys breathed. "You weren't kid–kidding when you s–said you thought i–it was empty."

"How does she not have a trait?" Sans demanded, " _Everyone_ has a trait."

"Hu–Humans with magic us–usually have strange s–souls," Alphys explained. "Maybe this h–has something to do–do with her m–magic."

"Even then, their attacks are somehow linked to their souls — it's where they draw their magic. But... She doesn't even seem to have a soul."

"But, wouldn't th–that make her em–emotionless?" Alphys asked. "If a h–human's soul describes e–everything about them, the–then why would h–her soul be like th–this?" Sans shrugged, as stumped as the scientist was.

Alphys scratched her head, turning to Sans to think. "Ma–Maybe it has s–something to do wi–with her autism? She is–isn't able to un–understand emotions, which i–includes her own. Wh–Which would explain h–her in–incapability to h–have emotions."

"But she does _have_ emotions," Sans argued. "She just doesn't understand _other people's_ emotions."

"M–Maybe, she doesn't u–understand her own as–as well." Alphys said. "Ma–Maybe she's j–just not used t–to freely di–displaying emotions, so sh–she—" Alphys cut herself off, her eyes wide. Kiona kicked her legs back and forth, watching Alphys' upside down, white monster soul bob before her.

Before either of the monsters could say anything, Kiona touched it, slowly turning it a soft pinkish colour, as if it had been dipped in paint.

Alphys' facial features softened and she turned to Sans, a deep pink blush scattering across her scaly features. "... _Alphys_?"

"I ne–need to make out wi–with my w–wife," she murmured, stumbling out of his bedroom. Sans blinked, as she left, her soul following her. He walked after her with Kiona in tow, watching curiously as Alphys walked into the living room where Undyne and Papyrus were talking. Upon hearing the trio enter the room, Undyne turned and grinned at them.

"Finally, you nerds are back!" She cheered, smiling widely as Alphys sat down in her girlfriend's lap, a silly grin on her face. "What's up with you?" Alphys gave no warning and kissed her wife. Undyne was momentarily surprised, but quickly followed their kiss. Seconds later, Alphys was peeling off Undyne's clothes, at which she made no room to argue with her.

It wasn't until Undyne was in a sports bra and jeans that Sans finally broke them up. " _Okay_ ," He said loudly, using his magic to drag Alphys away from Undyne. The female monster ended up on the floor, confused and a bit dazed. Her soul — which had even exposed the entire time — had slowly started to return to its normal cloudy white colour. "There are _kids_ in the room, you guys..." Sans muttered.

"What? That wasn't my plan, it was all Al," Undyne defended. "What did you two _do_ to her?!"

"Uhm," Sans turned to Kiona who was leaning against the couch, her soul still bobbing but her eyes were half lidded. Sans sent her soul back in her chest, and immediately, she fainted. Luckily, Sans used his magic to catch her, and lay her between Undyne and Papyrus. "... It's a long story."

~•~•~•~

" _She_ did _that_?" Undyne said in a loud whisper so they wouldn't wake up the girl who had been slumbering on the couch in the other room. Papyrus decided to stay in the other room with her, 'protecting' her from any nightmares. "I thought you guys said she didn't _have_ magic."

"We didn't th–think she so eit–either," Alphys explained. "She's w–way too old to–to have magical att–attributions. In fact, ki–kids her age a–are the most le–least likely to have a–a magical affinity."

"How'd she make you act like that?" Undyne asked.

"From what I've seen, she's able to... Influence souls with physical contact," Sans explained. "She did it to me and my soul turned green."

"But, s–she turned m–my soul pink," Alphys frowned quizzically. "I've n–never seen a s–soul that colour."

"What trait did you feel when she touched you?" Sans asked, and a blush invaded Alphys' face.

"I–I–I mean... I–It wasn't o–one of–of the tr–traits that w–we usually know, b–but i–if ha–had to, uhm, des–describe it, I'd s–say i–it was... _L... Lust_?" Undyne let out a loud snort at that, which effectively made Alphys' face turn even redder. "Wha–What did you fe–feel when she t–touched you, Sans?"

Sans rubbed the back of his neck, recalling the event from several nights prior. "She turned mines green, which means kindness."

"So, what, she can change soul's colours. I can too," Undyne argued. "So can you, Sans, and Paps. What's so different?"

"Bu–But you guys a–are _boss monsters_ ," Alphys argued. "An–And the only r–reason I can cha–change a soul's c–colour is because o–of the modifications I–I used o–on Frisk. She's just a–a human, and a–a _child_ too! So, th–there has to b–be something d–different about her, b–besides being a–a human with magical att–attributes."

The room was silent, allowing the frigid wind that had began to howl loudly, which was Undyne and Alphys' signal to leave before it got too bad that they couldn't drive through it. Before they left, Alphys instructed Sans to watch out to see what other phenomena that may occur relating to Kiona. Alphys had a theory — that had still been in the makings — that there were other souls out there, that they hadn't been able to discover quite yet, and Kiona had been the key to finding them. Sans agreed, being eager himself with these new discoveries of souls, and wanted to learn as much as he could about them while they had the chance.

Meanwhile, Papyrus and Sans sat on the couch watching television, and Sans put Kiona to sleep in his room, not quite having the heart to wake her up. Every once and a while, he'd check in on her, and every time, she was still sleeping soundly. It wasn't long before night fell, and the two brothers went to go to sleep. Kiona was — surprisingly — still sleeping.

Sans chuckled, walking over to her, and maneuvering past the mess in his room. "Ya quite the sleepyhead, today, aren't ya, kid?" He teased, assuming she wouldn't wake up, but was shocked when she cracked an eye open to him.

She looked exhausted and her eyes were bloodshot. Kiona coughed, "We... We watch... _Giraffes_... We..." She stammered before falling into another nasty coughing fit.

"Oh, geez," Sans muttered, his eye-sockets wide as he came to her side. Kiona was shivering, and managed to sweat through her thick clothing. "What the hell!? How—?!"

"The _giraffes_ , Sans..." She slurred, leaning against his ribcage. Sweat beaded her forehead, and her eyes unfocused, dancing around the room. "Mo–... Mommy doesn't... Giraffes... Do _you_ like... Giraffes?"

Sans scooped her out of the bed, and Kiona tried to wiggle out of his grasp, tears growing in her eyes. "No... No Zack... Iery... _Noooo_..."

"Paps!" Sans called, and seconds later his brother came to his room.

"What is it, brother?" Papyrus replied, "Is there something—" Papyrus wasn't able to finish because Sans teleported the three of them out of the room.

~•~•~•~

Immediately after they arrived in the living room of the Dreemur's home, Kiona doubled over in his arms. Sans quickly set her down and made a trash can appear before her as she emptied the contents of her stomach into it. Then, Kiona fainted, but luckily Sans was there to catch her.

Toriel walked out of the kitchen, and looked surprised to see the three of them in her living room, unannounced. " _Sans_? I thought I told you she was not in any condition to—"

"She's _sick_ ," Sans interrupted, rushing over to hand the girl to the female monster. "Tori, I think she's _falling_."

~•~•~•~

Sans and Papyrus stayed at the Dreemur's home overnight as Toriel as she tried to figure out what was wrong with her. After two hours, the Ex-Queen finally came up with her diagnosis.

" _Magic depletion,"_ She announced. Frisk was in the guest room, assisting to Kiona's needs whenever she'd deliriously say them. Papyrus, Sans, Asgore, and herself were sitting at the four-seated table in the kitchen. "I used to see it all the time in the children at my school when I first started."

"What's magic depletion?" Papyrus asked, the term unfamiliar with him.

Toriel shifted in her seat, thinking of how to explain it. "Well, since Monsters take their magic from their bodies, they don't usually feel it. However, a human's magic comes from their soul, and although the power of a soul is very strong, if you exhaust them then the soul becomes weak. If a human's soul becomes weak then they begin to experience fever symptoms like loss of breath, delirium, or excessively sweating. That's why I only make my students practice their magic twice a week and under trained adult supervision. With Kiona being so sick, using her magic right now could be very dangerous."

Sans felt a pang of guilt at her words, "Sorry. She... She isn't fallin' right? She's going to be okay?"

"Of course she will," Toriel smiled and both skeletons sighed in relief. "The snow is supposed to get worse, so why don't you two stay the night. There's a guest room down the hall with two twin-beds in it. We'll keep Kiona until, since she's already here, and try to see if we can find her parents."

"Will you two be back for Christmas?" Asgore asked, sipping a bit of his golden flower tea.

"Nyeh-heh-heh, of course we will, Mr. Dreemur! I, the Great Papyrus, would never pass up the opportunity to go to a grand party!" Papyrus declared, "Also, we will get to see our dear human friends as well!"

Toriel laughed, "Well, I guess that's settled. I'll go check on Frisk and Kiona. Asgore, would you show Sans and Papyrus the guest room please." Asgore nodded at his wife's instructions and Toriel left.

~•~•~•~

"Kiona! Why are you crying?!" Frisk asked, trying to calm down the girl who had been sobbing into the pillow. "Please, talk to me."

"I... I..." She stammered, "The _giraffe_...—"

"You wanna watch some giraffes? Sans gave me his phone so, here," Frisk turned on his phone and opened the album of pictures titled, ' **Emergency Giraffes** '. Frisk showed Kiona, she stopped crying and took the phone. Frisk sagged in relief and leaned against the arm chair beside her.

"Finally, you got that whiny idiot to _shut up!"_ Flowey hissed beside Frisk, who close to ignore his complaints. He was in his flower pot on the table beside them. "Why is she here anyway?"

"Mom said she got sick and Sans and Paps didn't know what to do, so they came here," Frisk explained. "Kiona's my best friend, and I don't wanna see her get hurt at all."

"What's wrong with her? Why's she acting like a–a baby!?"

"She's not acting like a baby and there's nothing wrong with her," Frisk glared at their flowery companion. "She's autistic and doesn't know how to handle things sometimes. She... Sees the world differently than us, which is pretty cool. Kiona's a really great person if you get to know her," Frisk grinned at Flowey when they finished.

Flowey harrumphed, turning away. "She's still weird."

The door opened before Frisk could respond and Toriel stepped in the room, "Hello, my child. I'm going to check on Kiona, then you should go to bed."

"But, Mom! It's winter break," Frisk whined. "Can I stay up later? Please!"

"Did you finish your winter break packets?" Frisk nodded, "Then... Fine. You can go sleep in the guest room with Sans and Papyrus if you like." Frisk cheered, and went to hug their mother, who chuckled.

"Oh! Can I bring the Wii in there too?" Frisk asked their mother.

"Yes, yes, now, go get your pajamas on or else I may change my mind," Toriel teased. Frisk was quick to grab Flowey and run out of the room, leaving the door swinging behind them.

" _Mommy_?" Kiona whispered, and Toriel turned back to the child. Sans' phone laid limply in her hand, and her eyes were bloodshot with tears. Her fingers trembled, and she gave a small cough. "Mommy, _help_."

Toriel's honey brown eyes softened, "I'm not your mother, my child, we will find her, though. I promise you."

"I'm... _Cold_ , Mommy..." Kiona whispered. Toriel rose the blankets up to put them back on her, but Kiona flinched away. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! No, please..." Kiona curled in on herself, hiding under the blankets and shivering. "No, noo... Don't... Don't let... Him... _Nooo_..." Toriel stared at the child, who was crying underneath her blankets.

"Oh, my child," Toriel whispered. "You've been through so much... Please, rest..." Toriel picked the child up, and began to rub her back comfortingly, humming a soft tune.

"I'm... Sorry," Kiona whispered into Toriel's fur. "So... Sorry, Mommy... I'm sorry..."

"Do not be sorry, my child, I understand. Now, go to sleep. Close your eyes, and sleep."

"Y–Yes... Mommy," Kiona murmured before succumbing into a hazy dream.


	6. - six -

**Chapter Six:**

Kiona recovered quickly with the help of Toriel's magic, healing golden flower tea, and being active with Frisk. She spent most of her time playing in Frisk's room, or watching Frisk play video games, never actually engaging herself. Sans and Papyrus went home the next morning, since the sun had finally began to show through, melting the heavy snow.

Christmas was in four days, and Toriel promised Kiona and Frisk that once the roads were clear, she would try to find Kiona's mother. Asgore had been sending out messages to his colleagues, and helped file a found person report. There hadn't been any responses, but due to the bad weather, some of the city was without power. It would be hard to get a message across anyway.

By the afternoon of the next day, the roads were clear and they weren't scheduled any more snow until mid-January. So Kiona, Frisk, and Toriel went out. Kiona and Frisk was bundled up, which was a good idea because Kiona was playing in the snow, getting her several layers damp, and Frisk was helping. Toriel decided to check the houses near the area which they found Kiona, going door to door to see if anyone recognized her. When that didn't work, they went to the next block, and so on.

By the time they had gotten to the fifth street away from the place they found Kiona, Toriel had began to give up. She decided to finish off that street, then go to Muffet's to buy the two children a hot treat, and go home.

Toriel knocked on the door, hearing a rushed, 'one minute' on the other side. Finally, the door opened to reveal a middle-aged, Hispanic woman with long dark hair, with a child on either hip. Both were toddlers, but one was crying and the other sucking a bottle. "Sorry, I'm quite busy right now," the woman said, with a hint of a Spanish accent. "Are–Are you selling something, or—?"

"No, no," Toriel shook her head, giving the woman a warm smile. "We found a child, her name is Kiona Pala. We thought she lived somewhere in this neighborhood, so we were trying to find her guardian."

The woman looked at her, then at Kiona who was giggling in the snow, and Frisk watching her, a bit weary. Kiona seemed to be a endless source of energy, and continued to make the small 'snow angels' like Frisk had shown her. "Did you say Pala?"

~•~•~•~

The woman had told Toriel that Pala had been the surname of a professor of the class she went to at the local college. Hoana Pala was her name, and supposedly lived at the end of the street. Toriel thanked the woman greatly for her troubles, and even gave the woman a few parenting tips on her babies, being a mother herself.

Toriel gave Kiona the good news and she was simply bursting with energy, skipping down the sidewalk, cheering, ' _Mommy! Mommy_!' Toriel and Frisk had to sometimes pull her away from a car backing out of the driveway, or a person trying to shovel snow. Needless to say, Kiona was excited.

Finally the made it to the described house, and Kiona ran up to it, with Toriel and Frisk right behind her. She recognized home near instantly. She knocked quickly on the door, bouncing on the soles of her feet. A minute or so later, the door opened.

The woman inside was short, and had a joint in between her pointer and middle finger. She gave Toriel a strange look, almost disgusted, but didn't have the chance to say anything because Kiona wrapped her arms around the woman's waist. "Mommy! We can play giraffes now!" She squealed.

"What the _fu_ —"

"Hello ma'am," Toriel spoke up, sending the shocked woman a kind smile. "I am Toriel Dreemur. We found Kiona a few days ago, and have been trying to return her home. Are you Hoana Pala?"

"What's it to you?" Hoana asked, suspiciously.

Frisk looked from Kiona to her supposed mother, concerned, but Kiona beamed. "Mommy wants to watch giraffes." Hoana glared at Kiona, but she didn't seem to notice, or care for that matter.

"Well, now that Kiona is in good hands, we will be on our way..." Toriel said softly, also rather suspicious. "Would you like to come to our Christmas party on the twenty-fourth, Miss Pala?"

"No," she scoffed. "I would like you to leave." Toriel blinked, taken aback by the woman's blatant rudeness.

She took Frisk's hand in her own, straightening, her golden eyes narrowed. "I am beginning to believe that Kiona is not in the safest hands."

"What I do with my child is my own business," Hoana hissed. " _Fuck off_." Then, she slammed the door.

Kiona was ecstatic to be back home, especially after her mother kicked her out the first time. She wanted to watch giraffes with her, show her the things Sans did. But, as soon as the door closed, and Hoana had confirmed that Toriel and Frisk had left down the sidewalk, Hoana turned on her.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see your shitty little face again!" Hoana hissed, her tone dangerously low.

"I wanted to play with Mommy!" Kiona replied, cheerily. "I'm home, Mommy! Can we watch giraffes now, Mommy?"

"What did I say about that _foolishness_!?" Hoana snapped, almost red-faced with anger. "Shut the _fuck_ up! I don't want to see you for the rest of the day! Go, _now_!" She pointed to the staircase, and Kiona looked at her mother, confused.

"I want to play, Mommy," Kiona said. "We can watch giraffes, an—"

Hoana backhanded Kiona and she fell, tears streaming down the face as she gasped in pain. "You ruined my _fucking_ life," Hoana hissed lowly in her ear. "I lost my _job_ , and I almost lost my _boyfriend_! So, when I say go to your _goddamn_ _room_ , I mean _go to your goddamn room_!"

Hoana picked Kiona up by the arm and pushed her toward the stairs. Kiona's knees gave out from under her and she began to cry harder. Hoana hit her again, and she shakily stood. She began her ascent up the steps when she suddenly was blocked by a tall, slightly damp man. Kiona's eyes turned to saucers, her body trembling as she stared into Zackiery's dark, gleaming, lustful eyes, the smirk that played his lips sending shivers down her spine.

Kiona ran up the rest of the steps, and hid in her room. She sobbed in her knees, terrified to no end. She just wanted to go home, to make her mother happy again, but Zackiery was back. Kiona remembered him telling her mother that he would touch her, and she got really angry at him and her. She didn't know why, he touched her mother too, maybe her mother wanted to be touched more? Kiona didn't understand and it hurt to try to.

Her head sank into her knees and she fell asleep.

~•~•~•~

Toriel had realized her mistake and tried to come back for Kiona the next day, threatening to take legal action, but it was too late. Hoana held guardianship of Kiona, despite what Toriel wanted to believe. Besides, it would take a year, maybe two, to finally take them to court to get it sorted out, based on the U.S. court system. By that time, Kiona could be very possibly dead, or worse. Her hands were tied.

Frisk was devastated, when they realized that they gave Kiona to her abusers on a silver platter. But, once again, there was little nothing they could do either. They were faced with guilt every morning, and the burning pain that they caused this. They were the reason Kiona would most likely die. Frisk was upset and didn't know what to do.

Toriel called the Social Services to inform them on Kiona's situation, but they wouldn't be able to check Hoana until after the holidays, since most of their employees were gone.

Sans wanted to take matters into his own hands, get Kiona and leave, but Toriel explained firmly that that would be kidnapping, and make them no better than her mother. So, they waited, hoping that the Social Services may make an exception.

~•~•~•~

Zackiery had an absolute _ball_ for the three days Kiona was back. He forced himself on her, over and over, his cold fingers re-exploring her body. Her mother drowned out her cries with the television, alcohol, drugs, or sleeping. This time she knew, and didn't care.

Kiona was shaking on her mattress as Zackiery finally finished. She had ran out of tears to shed, and was just reliving the events that just happened in her head. Zackiery was chuckling to himself, "Heh, little dirty slut. You're worse than your whore of a mother."

Zackiery left Kiona in darkness, slamming the door behind him. Leave, Kiona thought a different than her thoughts. She tried to make it go away, but it only made her head pound. _Go back to Toriel or Sans. They'll protect yo_ u.

Kiona listened, going to her window that has recently been missing the glass to it, and jumping out. She landed in the grass, and her ankle was in pain, but Kiona barely noticed it. She walked away from her home and away from her mother. She didn't want to come back.

Kiona didn't know if she was lost or going to right way. She remembered the apartment, but not as if it were real, but instead like a dream. Kiona was really confused, but something told her to go in spite of her better judgement.

Kiona walked inside, stopping at the third floor. There were bones decorating the door, and Kiona carefully knocked.

The door opened a second later, it was Papyrus who answered it. He looked over Kiona's head at first, then looked down, and gasped. "Small cold human!?" Something dropped inside, shattering against the floor. Kiona stepped back, scared. Was she in trouble now? Was Zackiery back?!

" _Kiona_ ," Sans' voice suddenly breathed beside her. She jumped, her heart racing. Sans looked wearier since Kiona had last seen him. There were bags under his eyes and he looked a bit disheveled. But, despite this, he gave her a smile, "Hey, kid, let's get ya inside, okay?"

Kiona glanced from him to Papyrus, suspicious and scared, but something urged her to go, so she stumbled forward, keeping her hands wrapped around her chest.

Kiona sat on the couch and Papyrus went to go prepare a hot drink for her. Sans sat next to her, "Are ya hurt?" Kiona glanced down at her ankle, which was throbbing now. Sans saw her gaze, and moved, going to her bare foot.

Kiona saw Zackiery, with his malicious smile, pinning her down on her bed, licking his lips in desire.

Kiona cried out, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging her knees, trembling. It hurt so much. Everything was sore. He touched everywhere. Kiona felt dirty; Kiona was dirty. _A dirty little slut_.

Kiona began to claw at her arms, racking her long fingernails across skin, making her arm bleed after several attempts. " _Kiona_!"

Sans called out, trying to take her hand, but as soon as he tried to make contact with her, she screamed, trying to move away. "No! Stop! It hurts! Don't touch me, please!" Kiona begged. Sans stared at her, both in pity and in anger.

Kiona heard footsteps behind her. She remembered Zackiery pinned her on her stomach, forcing himself into her, over and over and over and over an—

Sans pulled her towards him, into a hug and stroking her long, locked hair. Kiona was sobbing but didn't try to move away. A blanket was placed over her again, and Kiona slowly fell asleep.

~•~•~•~

Kiona woke up the next day on the couch with a few blankets over her. Her clothes were changed, but she didn't remember how. On the other end of the couch sat Sans, flickering through a few channels on the television, not quite being able to decide on one. He turned to her when he noticed that she was awake.

"Hey, kid, how are ya feeling?" Kiona looked at her arm and realized that where she had been aggressively scratching last night was bandaged up.

" _Dirty little slut_ ," Kiona repeated, but Sans heard, and his eye sockets went black. " _You're worse than your whore of a mother._ " She looked at Sans, her eyes dull, voided of any emotion. "I'm _dirty_. I _feel_ dirty." Sans sighed, running a bony hand down his face. "When can I go back Mommy?" Kiona asked.

Sans stared at her, confused, "Ya want to go _back_? After ya mother treated ya like..." He trailed off.

"Mommy was just... _Sad_ ," Kiona explained, trying to smile, but it didn't seem to meet her eyes. "She needs to be happy again. If Kiona shows Mommy giraffes, Mommy will be _happy_!" It was strange. Kiona words were happy and excited at the prospect of seeing her mothers again, but her body language said exactly the opposite. She was terrified of her mother, just a little bit less than how she was terrified of Zackiery. But despite this fear, Kiona yearned for a mother figure in her life, and with Hoana being the only one, she clung to her, refusing to let her go, despite how she treated her.

"Are ya hungry, Kiona?" Kiona was silent, not answering Sans' question. "Did ya mother give ya any food?"

"Mommy doesn't buy food," Kiona stated matter-of-factly. "She was too tired." Sans held in another disappointed sigh.

"I'm going to make some food, 'kay?" He got up, but Kiona's eyes widened and she jumped, holding onto his hand, keeping him from leaving.

"No!" She cried, tears falling down her face. Sans was surprised, "Zackiery's gonna come back, and–and—"

"Do ya wanna come with me?" Sans suggest softly, using a thumb to wipe her tears away. Kiona gave a small nod and she stood, carefully favouring her good foot, and limped to the kitchen with Sans.

There was a small counter with a barstool in front of it, so Kiona sat down. Sans pulled out all the necessary material needed, eggs cheese, a skillet, and seasonings, setting them on the counter in front of Kiona.

Kiona watched patiently as Sans cooked the egg on the stove. Her mouth watering when he finished, her stomach growling loudly. Finally he placed the big omelet in front of her. Kiona stared before quickly trying to devour it. Sans smiled, pleased that she was eating, turning to make his own food.

Suddenly Kiona ran to the trash can and heaved, throwing up everything she had just at. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was muttering to herself.

Sans hastily turned off the stove, coming to her side, "Kiona!? What's wrong?!"

"It–It–It ta–tastes like h–him," she sobbed, gagging. "Do–Don't let him... No... P–Please, I... St–Stop it, it–it hurts...!" Sans held Kiona to his chest, stroking her hair and humming again. Sans gave Kiona a water bottle, to wash away the taste of bile in her throat, but she refused to drink from the end. So, Sans got a cup, poured the water into it, and gave her the cup of bottled water.

Kiona slowly went to go sit at the counter when she finished, refusing to touch her food. She began to involuntarily scratch at her skin, turning her beautiful burnt sienna coloured skin to a raw, reddish colour, making her skin peel and bleed.

"Kiona," Sans said, his tone soft, to not startle the girl. She didn't reply, simply staring into nothing, and scratching more aggressively. Sans slowly placed a hand on hers, and Kiona jumped, nearly falling out of her seat. Sans had luckily used his magic to keep the girl upright, and moved her back to a sitting position.

Kiona simply stared at him. Not confused, or scared, but simply blank. As if she had never met Sans in her life and he asked what his favourite colour was. Sans cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward, "Are ya still hungry? I can make something else, if ya want." Kiona didn't respond. She didn't even blink. She simply stared at him, her hand twitching every so often.

"Eat a little, Kiona," Sans said, trying to get the plate. Kiona pushed it away, shaking her head. "Ya gonna get hungry later, kid. Eat this now, and then we can go watch a giraffe movie."

Kiona looked physically in pain as she slowly took the plate. She didn't bother to use the fork Sans gave her as she slowly brought the piece of egg to her mouth. Tears ran down her face as she began to eat it, gagging as it went. Sans sighed, his soul hurting for her. "Come on, Kiona," he said, bringing her away from the food. "Ya don't have to finish. We can go watch the giraffes." Relief painted itself on Kiona's face as she took Sans' hand, walking with him into the living room.

Sans sat on the couch, turning to the program he recorded for Kiona. Kiona leaned on his shoulder, half watching, half playing with the bony hand she had yet to let go of. She would feel the lines over her fingers with her own, marveling how it turned colours when she squeezed it.

Sans knew she had done this before, but decided to not take his hand away from her. Instead, he focused his phone that buzzed and Sans answered it, his right, dominant hand twitching to hold the phone.

" _You found Kiona_?" Toriel's voice filter through the phone.

"Yeah, she's at our place. Showed up at our door last night," Sans replied, then began talking a little quieter now. "She's relapsed, something happened at her mom's house. She was probably assaulted again."

Toriel was silent for a second, " _Why she would ever want to go_ back _into that kind of environment is beyond me_." She said, mostly to herself.

Sans hummed in agreement. "We may not be able to come to the party tomorrow with Kiona like this."

" _I agree. I wouldn't want you to_ ," Toriel replied firmly. " _Someone needs to be with Kiona, and she seems to feel most comfortable with you_." Toriel's voice was kind, but it wasn't her tone that shocked him.

The tinge of a blue blush spread across Sans' face at the compliment, and in the same moment, Kiona looked up at him, seeing his blue face. She giggled, poking his cheek, making the colours darken a shade. "Thanks," he managed to mumble, the door opened, revealing Papyrus, carrying a few bags. "Imma have to call ya back, Tori. Bye."

"Goodbye, Sans." He hung up the phone, stuffing it in his jacket pocket.

"I have purchased more spaghetti, brother!" Papyrus exclaimed, "The small cold human has not yet tried my spaghetti, despite being here for nearly a week! Her diet has consisted of soups, and although Miss Toriel said it was healthy, she should definitely try my amazing spaghetti, nyeh-heh-heh! Surely this will make her tastebuds explode, since _I_ , Master Chef Papyrus, make the greatest of spaghetties!"

"Ya right," Sans agreed with his brother. "Ya spaghetti is great, bro, she definitely won't _regretti_ it." Papyrus' face went red with anger and he stomped into the kitchen.

Sans looked down, Kiona was absorbed in the television, suddenly very interested in the giraffe documentary. He wanted to leave for a hot second, but decided to wait until she was asleep — she looked rather tired as it was.

Sans leaned back and Kiona curled next to him, her eyes drooping. She looked up at him, "Is... Is he coming back?" Kiona asked, her voice quiet.

"No, kiddo," Sans assured. "He'll never come back." Kiona sighed, letting her eyelids fall and her shoulders relax. In a few minutes, Kiona was sleeping.

Sans slipped away from her, walking down the hall to go to his room, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it back out and answered it, "Hey, ki—"

" _You found Kiona_!?" Frisk cried into the phone, and Sans chuckled.

"Yeah, just told ya mom. She showed up on our door yesterday," Sans heard Frisk sigh exasperatedly on the other end of the line.

" _Yeah, she told me. Mom says she can't come to the party tomorrow_ ," Frisk said, a bit more calmly now.

"She can't. She's tired, and I don't think she'll be able to take it. Sorry, kid."

" _It's okay,"_ Frisk sighed. " _I just wanted to give her the present, but it can wait..._ " Sans paused, recalling the present Frisk bought Kiona the day they had found her.

"I think that can be arranged, kiddo."

~•~•~•~

Despite being asleep for a while, Kiona was terribly exhausted when she woke up, especially since it was early. Papyrus was very excited about something, but Kiona was still half asleep, and did not care to find out what I was. Sans had to go somewhere important, and left the responsibility of caring for the young child in Papyrus' hands. Papyrus made Kiona breakfast, but she didn't eat it. Instead, she curled up on the couch, quietly.

Papyrus made his way to Kiona, sitting beside her. "Small, cold human, would you like to watch the special Christmas movies?" Kiona didn't reply, so Papyrus took that as a yes, and tuned into the Christmas movie channel.

As Kiona watched, she seems to be really interesting ' _Santa Claus_ ', and began asking questions like, what he was riding on, and if the giraffes he was riding were always brown. Papyrus happily answered her curious, and rather odd questions. It seemed as if Kiona didn't know what 'Christmas' even was.

Soon, Sans arrived back home, with Frisk in tow. "Kiona!" Frisk cried, running to the girl, and sitting next go her. Kiona jumped a little, staring at Frisk for a few seconds before relaxing. They opened their mouth to say something, but stopped mid sentence. Instead, they said, "Sans and I brought you a surprise. Do you wanna see...?"

After a small pause, Kiona nodded, and followed Frisk out the door. Standing beside the door was Asgore dressed up as Santa Claus, and Toriel standing beside him. Kiona gasped, her eyes wide, "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, Kiona!" Kiona began to giggle, a smile spread wide on her features.

"Santa brought you a present," Toriel told Kiona who squealed with excitement. "Let's go inside so you can see them!"

Kiona ran inside, plopping down on the couch as ' _Santa_ ' dragged in a big red bag filled with items. Frisk sat beside her, as Santa handed her the first big present,

Kiona stared at the present, confused what to do with it. Frisk kindly helped Kiona unwrap the gift, revealing the medium sized giraffes inside. Kiona gasped, grabbing the giraffe and squeezing it to her chest.

Frisk beamed at the genuine smile on Kiona face, something that they hadn't seen on her in months. As Frisk continued to hand Kiona present, she became more and more excited and happy. Most of the gifts were from Frisk or Toriel, but Undyne, Alphys, and Sans even pitched in to get her a few last minute gifts that she easily loved.

The thought of receiving gifts was not a concept Kiona had been able to develop, or even understand. She knew they were giving her items, and that definitely made her happy, but she didn't know why. When — on the rare occasion — Hoana would give Kiona something, it was usually a bandage when she hit her so hard that she would be bleeding. Kiona also remembered Zackiery telling her that when he used to touch her, it was a gift, but not something that was material, but something that she would need to know in the future. Now, they were giving Kiona gifts for no reason. It confused her, and Kiona didn't like feeling confused, it made her head hurt.

Once the last of the gifts had been distributed, and Toriel decided she would cook a desert before they left, Kiona and Sans went to go disappear into his room. Kiona's head started to hurt, and Sans agreed to comfort her until she was feeling better.

Kiona sat on the bed, curled up, and thinking. Sans, who had been trying to cheer her up, noticed this. "What's on your mind, kid?" Kiona looked up at him, confused. "What are you thinking about," he clarified.

"... Kiona doesn't understand," she admitted. "Frisk, friend, gives Kiona gifts, but they do not touch Kiona, or hurt Kiona. So, why give gifts?" This was so out of Kiona's nature that it shocked Sans. She usually was very narrow-minded, only thinking on a few things at a time — like giraffes, doodling, or watching television — but now, she was _thinking_ , she was _confused_. Something led her to being this way, to feeling confused, and Kiona didn't know how to deal with it. Usually, she kept things like this to herself or turned a blind eye to it, but mow, she was actually thinking on it, and asked for help with her issues too! Sans was so ecstatic that he almost forgot her question.

So, Sans answered in the only way he could, and at the same time hoped she would understand too. "They love ya, kid," Sans explained with a wide smile. "They really care for ya."

Kiona's mouth twitched downwards, "They... Care for Kiona?"

"Yep. They love ya," he grinned.

"Daddy love Kiona too," Kiona replied. Sans rose an eyebrow, daddy?

"Ya dad?" Kiona nodded, "What happened to ya dad?"

"Mommy said daddy went missing," Kiona smiled, even though her words were scarily morbid. "Mommy says he jumped down somewhere. He didn't love Kiona, so he went disappeared." Sans' eyes went dark, but Kiona continued, "Are you going to go missing too, Sans? I don't want Sans to go missing."

"Of course not, kiddo," Sans assured. Kiona gave a simple nod, not quite taking in his words. "Why don't we watch more giraffes?" Kiona giggled happily, as he pulled out his phone.

Kiona leaned against him as the video played. It was silent for a long while, until Kiona spoke again. " _Happy Christmas_!" Sans blinked, confused for a second, but chuckled in realization a moment later.

"Happy Christmas, kiddo," Kiona grinned, and hugged him tight. She might not have understood his words, but she did understand his tone. He cared for her, a different way her mother or Zackeiry did. It made her happy, and feel... Safe. Kiona smiled, she liked this kind of safe, it made her feel warm and happy.

Kiona's smile grew and she planted a kiss on Sans' cheek. Sans' face turned blue immediately, and Kiona squealed in delight, touching his flamed cheeks. Sans looked away, gesturing to the video that was playing, which entrapped Kiona's attention again.

Kiona definitely like this kind of caring.


	7. - seven -

**Chapter Seven:**

Soon the holiday season had came and passed, leaving the new year and a Frisk and Kiona going back to school. Kiona had been very hesitant, being wary of her surroundings and staying by Frisk the entire time. Frisk didn't mind. In their own way, they liked to feel like Kiona's personal guard, just in case someone tried to hurt her.

The first school day of the year is slow and boring, but on the bright side, Kiona did offer a few answers when their teachers call on her. Frisk is very proud of the development Kiona is showing. If they had never found her on the bench that morning, she wouldn't have been able to answer... She could have been dead.

Near the end of the day, Frisk and Kiona have to part ways. With it being the new quarter, Frisk has to take a health class, as Kiona has physical education. Since Frisk already took their mandatory P.E. class for the year, they have to leave Kiona by herself.

The first day of class is fine — the students are given a syllabus by their teacher, Coach Mayors, and they review it, then they do a few stretches and run around the gym. Coach Mayors is also very kind to Kiona as well, and even told Frisk that she has an autistic brother, so she promises that she would make sure to treat Kiona with care.

Everything goes smoothly for the first class of P.E., and Kiona even seems to enjoy it. The next class, however, is when things start to get difficult.

Mandatory to the rules, Kiona is expected to change into her P.E. uniform in the female locker room, but she refuses. Kiona threw a tantrum, refusing to take off any article of clothing, and quickly causes a scene.

A few of the teachers, including the Coach herself, try to calm the girl down, but their soft, sugary words are no match for her screaming and crying. Kiona ran, hiding in the shower part of the locker room, rejecting any attempt to communicate with anyone. So, they called Frisk down, since they were the only ones with a real connection with the girl.

Frisk hesitantly entered the locker room. It was eerily quiet. The tall, lanky, metal lockers were in rows adjacent to the door, and lining the walls. They glowed a dim grey in the flickering, old ceiling lights. It smelled vaguely of body odor, the kind that stuck around even after the rooms were empty — probably due to the clothes that were preserved for after class in the metal lockers. There's were two openings, one to the bathroom on the side, and the other to the back, which held changing stalls.

Frisk walked towards the changing stalls slowly, " _Kiona_? Are you in here?" They called, checking in each section of stalls. The walls were a pale yellow and the paint was peeling off of it. There was a few scraggily written writings in some, but Frisk didn't bother to read it.

The stalls proved to be empty, so they went to the showers. The heavy silence was interrupted by a sniffle, that echoed the tiled floors and walls.

Frisk turned, and spotted Kiona. She was sitting in the corner of the showers, leaning against the walls. She didn't seem to mind how dirty the floors were, and was only staring blankly at her worn grey shoes. "Hey, Kiona," Frisk called out, and the girl didn't respond. Holding back a sigh, Frisk stepped over to the girl, sitting beside her. It wasn't close enough to make Kiona feel trapped, and not too far to make Frisk seem distant.

"Do you think mom'll make some cookies when we get home?" Frisk wondered aloud. "Maybe she'll let us decorate them like last time." They laughed at the thought, "That was fun, wasn't it?" A small nod from Kiona and Frisk grinned.

They began to talk about anything — everything. Sometimes, it was about the Former Dog guards, or Miss Muffet's café. They talked about their fun in the Underground, meeting everyone and befriending them all. They even ventured towards giraffes, and a few animated movies with the long-necked mammals in them. It wasn't long before Kiona was laughing and talking with them, completely forgetting about the events from earlier.

Soon, it was time to go to their next class. Frisk led Kiona out of the lockers, ignoring the strange states they were given. The Coach thanked Frisk for handling the situation, and they went to their next, and final, class.

However, Kiona threw another fit in the next P.E. class, refusing to get changed. Frisk was once again to the rescue, and calmed her down. When the class ended, Coach Mayors pulled Frisk to talk to them privately.

"Look, I know you wanna help Kiona," the Coach began. "But, she needs to participate in class. Besides, you keep missing classes for her too. It's not good for either of your grades."

"I know," Frisk sighed, glancing over to the girl who was sitting on the bleachers, quietly.

"I understand her issues with not being willing to get dressed in public — my brother had the same dilemma. Why don't you have her wear her uniform to school with her?" The Coach suggested.

"My mom already tried that; it's too cold outside," Frisk sighed.

"She could wear sweatpants opposed to shorts. They're not exactly part of the uniform, but I'll let it slide in her case." Frisk looked up, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah," the Coach smirked. "As long as she's wearing clothes that appropriate for the class, and she participates, she'll be fine. The only time she would be in the locker room would be to put her books away."

"That a good idea!" Frisk grinned, "Thank you!"

"I'm a teacher. That's what I'm here for," Coach Mayors said with a small shrug. "Lemme write you two a late pass, so you don't get in trouble with Jackson."

"Thanks," Frisk thanked the coach again.

"Don't mention it. Now, you two go on and skedaddle!"

~•~•~•~

It turns out, Coach Mayor's plan to have Kiona wear sweatpants instead of shorts worked very well. Soon, she was participating with the other students in her class. Despite her height and lightweight — which was gradually increasing — she was very athletic and soon gained the title of fastest runner in their class.

This title, and her favouritism from their teacher, came with jealousy from her other classmates. Frequently, they would tease Kiona, calling her names, or hiding her books when she needed them. Not every student participated in her teasings. However, the ones who didn't made no move to tell a teacher of what was happening.

One day, Coach Mayors was sick with the flu — an illness that was going around a lot of the students too — and was replaced with a substitute.

The substitute wasn't very stern. She simply told the students that they were to do their stretches, run their usual laps, then play either four square or basketball. So, the class went by rather smoothly, and after finished, the sub went to hide in her office or the rest of the day.

Kiona was taking her books out of her locker when some of the other female students began to crowd around her. Kiona looked up, confused, and one of them spoke. "Did you have fun in class, _retard_?" She asked. The student was tall for her age, and had short blonde hair. She had already changed out of her uniform and was wearing a plain white tee shirt and jeans.

"I need to go," Kiona said, trying to push through the crowd of girl, but they pushed Kiona back before she had the chance to escape.

"Look at her hair! I bet there's _worms_ in them!" One of the girls said, and the others laughed.

"I bet they crawl in her _ears_ while she's sleeping, and make nests in her _brain_!"

" _Please_ ," another scoffed. " _Everyone_ knows retards don't _have_ brains!" This caused another round of hateful laughter. Kiona felt smaller, and she tried to get away again, only to be shoved back, much harder this time, making her fall on her bottom, her books scattering across the floor as well.

"Why don't you want to change, _retard_?" The tall girl from earlier asked. "Too good for us?"

"She's like a _reverse stripper_!" Another girl exclaimed and they all laughed.

Kiona felt someone pull at her shirt, yanking it over her head. She cried out, trying to keep her shirt on, but someone else held down her hands. The girls were like buzzards, picking her clothes off her, leaving her in only her undergarments. They used her vulnerability to pinch her in sensitive areas and poke her in more private ones. Kiona would try to move, but with the girls holding her in place, it was futile.

Kiona was trembling, tears dripping down her cheeks. She could feel Zackiery's hands roaming her body, tearing her clothes off her weak limbs. He would thrust his manhood into her, or shove it down her throat until she gagged, wanting to vomit, wanting to die.

The girls dragged Kiona into the showers. Someone turned the shower head on, and drenched her clothes. They threw it at her, jeering and laughing to each other, and left.

~•~•~•~

Frisk was really late to pick up Kiona. Their class lost track of time, and was nearly ten minutes late to their class. Frisk ran down the halls, having to be told three times to slow down before finally getting to the gym.

Much to their surprise, the gym was empty. Maybe Kiona was already taken to Mr. Jackson's class? Frisk thought, and left the gym.

When they finally made it to Mr. Jackson's class, Kiona was missing. Mr. Jackson had already received word that Frisk's class would be late but was concerned when Kiona hadn't showed up to class when Frisk finally arrived. He allowed them to go back to the gym, and if they still hadn't located her, to report to the office.

Frisk dashed down the halls, undutifully ignoring the warnings of ' _no running_ '. They made it back to the empty gym and entered the locker room.

Much like the first time they entered the room, it was eerie and silent. Frisk called out, " _Kiona_? Are you in here?" And gained no response. They began to search, checking the lockers, the bathroom, and the peeling paint stalls, but found nobody.

Frisk was about to give up when they spotted a small, trembling figure, in the darkest corner of the room, near a shower pole. The lightbulb above the figure was dead, so Frisk almost looked past them. Then, they moved, their entire body trembling.

Frisk walked over slowly, " _Kiona_...?"

" _Please_ ," Kiona's weak voice begged. "Please, no! It _hurts_!" Frisk stepped over, now getting a clearer view of the girl. She was without her shirt or pants, wearing simply her undergarments, but she had been trying to shakily them back on. They were wet and she wasn't focused, so causing her to have a arm in the head hole and only half a foot in the pants. Tears stained her cheeks and she was sobbing. Kiona folded her legs to her chest, her breathing getting heavily and more ragged. "No, please, Zackiery, nooo..."

"Kiona," Frisk said, trying to keep their shaking voice calm, if not for her sake but also for their own. What happened to her!? Frisk took a step closer, and Kiona seemed to get smaller. "Calm down. It's okay, he's not here anymore, he's—"

 _"It hurts! It hurts_!" Kiona wailed.

They took another step, and earned a loud cry because of it. "I know, but—" They felt a familiar tugging at their soul and glanced down. Their ruby red soul was exposed and for whatever reason, was turning grey. "Wha—?!"

Suddenly, they were petrified with fear. Their eyes were wide as they saw themselves murdering everyone in the Underground. First, attacking the old dummy, then a Froggit, and then, their own mother. Her face terrified of them, a child, her child.

Soon, their hands were caked in dust and no matter how hard they tried they couldn't scrub them clean. And it only escalated, it was a Snowdrake, Ice Cap, and Papyrus. Their best friend, who was a big brother to them, dead. And they crushed his head in the snow.

And then it grew and they couldn't control themselves. Shyrens, the Temmies, Undyne. The Royal Guards, Muffet, Mettaton. _Their Ton-Ton_ , reduced to merely scrap metal.

And then, it was Sans. His dark eye sockets boring into them. Judging every part of them, making them feel their sins crawling down their spine. He killed their dust tainted soul several times, but was never victorious.

Do _kids_ like Frisk even _have_ souls? Do _demons_ like Frisk even _have_ souls?

Frisk killed him. And then they killed Asgore and then they killed Flowey and then, _Chara killed them_. And even after all that, even after resetting, they would never forgive themselves for going that far. For getting too curious. For enjoying every second of it.

Frisk collapsed, gripping their head in their hands, tears streaming their cheeks. They were scared. They were terrified. Make it _stop_! Make it _stop_!

Their phone slipped out of their pocket and Frisk noticed it. Shakily, they speed dialed the first number they saw, held it to their ear. The line picked up after the second ring. " _Hey, kid. Somethin' wrong? Aren't ya supposed to be in—"_

" _Help_ ," Frisk sobbed, nearly dropping the phone. " _Please_ , help."

" _Where are you_?" Frisk hesitated, what if he tried to kill them again? " _Frisk?_ Tell me _where you are_."

"I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to! I–I didn't mean for it to go that far, I—"

"Frisk!" Frisk whimpered, " _Listen to me, whatever you did, it doesn't matter. Forget about it. I need you to tell me where you are_."

"You _hate_ me..."

 _"I don't, kid. Where are you right now_?"

Frisk paused for a second, breathing heavily, "Sc–School. L–Lo–Locker room. G–Girls—" the line went dead.

A moment later, Sans appeared behind them, his left eye ablaze of yellow and blue. Frisk cried out, he was going to break their soul again! He was going to kill them!

Sans blinked, observing the scene. The room was dark, and both Frisk and Kiona were crying. He almost didn't recognize Frisk's soul when he noticed it was grey.

"Oh, _shit_." He muttered, using his magic to levitate Frisk. They cried out, as he moved them out of the room, and into the gym. With the distance, Frisk began to get weaker as weaker until they collapsed. He sighed, and left them on the bench outside the locker room.

He went back to Kiona, who was crying harder, having been left alone. He quickly came to comfort her. "Hey, hey, shh. It's okay, it's gonna be okay." She didn't stop crying and he laid he sat down beside her and rested her head on his chest.

"Za–Zackiery. Za... It hurts..." Kiona sobbed.

"I know, I know," he whispered, Kiona'a fingers curled around his shirt, tears and mucus staining it. Sans hummed to her, stroking her sister locked hair. It felt like nearly forever, but her tears finally stopped and she was slowly breathing on his shirt. "Good job, kid..."

It took a bit of effort, but Sans convinced Kiona to come out of the showers. Since it was too far cold to have her wear the sopping wet clothes, he gave her his hoodie, which reached down to her knees. Frisk was beginning to regain consciousness as Sans led Kiona out of the locker room. "Kid? You awake?"

"Mm..." Frisk murmured, rubbing their eyes. "Ye... Yeah..." They looked around, confused. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," he told them before teleporting the three of them away.

~•~•~•~

"She will just need a bit of rest," Toriel said after checking up on the girl. Kiona was sitting on the couch, refusing to sleep despite Toriel's requests. "She needs to learn how to control her magic, though. If she keeps this up, she could hurt someone, or even hurt herself."

"How did she turn my soul _grey_?" Frisk asked, sitting at the kitchen table with the others. "I thought that only boss monsters could do that."

"It's her magic," Sans explained. "She influences souls."

"But... I've never seen a _grey_ soul before," Frisk murmured.

"What did you feel when she influenced your soul?" Sans asked.

Frisk was quiet for a moment, and Toriel spoke up. "Is they don't want to say—"

"No, it's okay mom," Frisk assured. "I was... Scared, so I guess it was _fear_?"

" _Fear_?" Toriel echoed and Frisk nodded.

"She was scared too, so maybe she just relayed her emotions to me," Frisk suggested.

"How did she end up in that condition anyway?" Toriel asked, turning to Frisk, who only gave a half-hearted shrug.

"The other kids have been giving her a hard time for a while," Frisk admitted. "I try to defend her as much as I can, but I'm not in her P.E. class so I can't help her there. Usually, Coach Mayors watches out for her, but I don't think she was in class today."

"Until we can figure out who did this, Kiona will be staying home tomorrow," Toriel decided firmly. "I'll go to the school, and speak to the faculty. Sans, do you mind watching Kiona?"

"Course not," Sans grinned.

"Thank you," Toriel glanced at the spaghetti clock on the wall, "We must head out soon. I have a parent-teacher meeting in about a half hour." Sans nodded and Toriel and Frisk said their goodbyes to the skeleton and Kiona.

~•~•~•~

Sans sat beside Kiona once they left. The televisions was playing a kids' cartoon show, but Kiona seemed disinterested in it. "Want somethin' to eat?" He asked, earning no response. Kiona leaned back, bringing her knees up on the couch. There was a blanket draped over her shoulders to provide minimal warmth.

Sans picked up the remote and turned on one of the giraffe documentaries he had prepared for her. Then, he stood, "I'm gonna make us something to eat," Sans told her before disappearing to the kitchen. Five minutes later, the smell of grilled cheese sandwiches wafted through the apartment, and Kiona's stomach growled loudly. Sans hummed an unknown tune while he cooked, and once he finished, he sliced it in half and set it beside Kiona.

Kiona stared at it, and slowly took a small piece of the food, and nibbled at the end. After that, she pushed the plate away, curling into her knees tighter. Sans sighed, "You know you gotta eat more than that, kid," Sans told her, pushing the plate towards her. Kiona shook her head vigorously, but Sans was stern. "Eat half," he told her. "That's it."

Kiona whimpered, "It tastes like him."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but you can't starve yourself because of that. It's not healthy." Kiona looked at the plate. Slowly, she picked up half of the sandwich, and brought it to her lips. She took a bite, and gagged, but forced herself to swallow it. Sans watched her the entire time until she finally finished half of the sandwich, and upheld their deal.

Kiona pushed the plate away, and curled up further on the couch, tears welling in her eyes. "Good job, kid," Sans praised, rubbing her back in slow, comforting circles. Sans set the plate aside and moved closer to her. Kiona rested her head on his shoulder, quietly crying. "Shh... Shh... It's okay..." Sans comforted her.

Kiona laid on him for a while, but her breathing slowed and Kiona gradually fell asleep.

~•~•~•~

Kiona didn't like sleeping. Whenever she did, she dreamed of Zackiery. She dreamed off all the horrible acts he committed against her, all the things he forced on her. Kiona dreamed of him pinning her on her bed, squeezing her wrists until she cried out as he used her body for his own disgusting desires. She didn't want to see Zackiery. She didn't want to see him continue to use her like she was a toy for him. She didn't want him to hurt her anymore. She wanted him to go away — she wanted to go away.

Kiona woke up on the couch, trembling. The room was dark, due to the late hours of the night. The television was off, and there was a body beside her. Kiona curled up on the couch, her mind relaying the nightmare she experienced. Tears pooled in her eyes and she sobbed into her knees.

Something shifted beside her, and the body beside her sat up. "Mmm..." They murmured, sniffing. Kiona whimpered, moving away, but her back was already pressed against the side of the couch. They turned and Kiona could see the dim pinpricks of light in their eyes. It was Sans. Kiona's shoulders sagged in relief and her ragged breathing steadied. Sans blinked, "Bad dream?" He guessed.

Kiona nodded and Sans pulled her into a hug. "S'okay, kiddo," he murmured. "I get 'em too." Kiona didn't respond. She gently took Sans' hands, placing her own on them. The bony ridges tickled her soft skin, and she couldn't help a giggle. She squeezed his hand, giggling when it turned blue again. She really couldn't help it — it was so fascinating.

Sans chuckled at her amusement. "I don't understand how someone could be so _cruel_ to ya, kid," he murmured, more to himself. Kiona looked up, and poked the side of face and he laughed. Kiona turned her attention back to his hands, interlacing her fingers with his, making a strange combination of light sienna brown and greyish-white digits. "I'm gonna find who turned you into this. And trust me when I say that they're gonna have a _bad time_."


	8. - eight -

Chapter Eight:

"Kiona, food's ready," Sans called out from the kitchen. He didn't gain a response from the girl and frowned a bit.

Setting the spatula down, he walked into the living room to see Kiona engaged in the television set, clutching the stuffed giraffe she had gotten for Christmas. "Kiddo, c'mon, the pancakes are ready," Sans said, grabbing the remote to pause the television. "Ya can finish watching after breakfast."

Gently, Sans took the girl's hand, getting her off the couch and into the kitchen. As an afterthought, he pulled the sliding wooden door closed in order to distract her from the television. Her hands hadn't left her giraffe for a second as he ushered her into one of the seats. "Here we go," he breathed, pushing her plate of bacon and pancakes to her. Kiona wrinkled her nose, and pushed it back. "Kiona—"

She shook her head, placing her forehead on the table. "Hey, kiddo," Sans spoke up, "I know ya don't wanna, but ya gotta eat somethin'," Kiona shook her head, making a few things on the table rattle as well. "Well," Sans sighed, "You're not leavin' this table 'til everythin' on that plate is gone." Kiona didn't respond. Sans sighed, leaning back in his seat, waiting.

Nearly an hour later, Kiona still hadn't taken her head off the table and Sans was on his phone. He glanced up at her occasionally to see if she moved, but she hadn't. Finally, a small notification popped up, saying his phone was at fifteen percent and needed to charge soon. Sans sighed, "I'll be right back." He got up, and teleported out of the room.

After nearly a minute of searching through his messy room to find his charger, he finally spotted it near the floor of his bed.

Picking it up, he teleported back downstairs. Kiona was standing, smiling at him. Sans rose a suspicious bone brow and looked at her plate of food. It was empty.

"Ya ate everythin'?" Sans asked.

"Sans–Sans said everything must be gone! So it's gone!" Kiona smiled, "Kiona watches giraffes now!" She ran over to grab his hand, pulling him away from the kitchen, but Sans didn't move.

"Kiona," Sans spoke firmly, "Did ya eat everythin' on that plate?"

"Sans said—"

"You're not answerin' my question. Where did ya put it?" Kiona deflated, looking at the ground, not answering his question, "Kiona."

"It tastes like Zackiery," Kiona murmured. "It hurts when it tastes like him. I don't want it to taste like him anymore..."

Sans sighed, "I understand, kid, but you have to eat, or else it'll hurt you. I'm sure it'll go away, but ya still have to eat. Ya can't throw it out, okay?" Kiona gave a small nod and Sans smiled, "Okay. Where'd ya put it?" Kiona sniffed, but pointed to the trash can. Sans sighed and Kiona flinched at his response.

"Kiona sorry. It–It... Kiona in trouble?" Sans shook his head.

"Nah, but we're gonna make ya somethin' else, m'kay?" Kiona nodded, "Good. There's some ramen in there, let's boil some of that."

Kiona was bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Frisk friend is coming!" She cheered while Sams and Papyrus rushed to clean the house for some reason. Sans had actually straightened his room, and Papyrus was scrubbing away at dishes. Kiona enjoyed watching it, it was like watching ants run around frantically. "Frisk–Frisk friend is coming?" Kiona asked Sans who was taking a minute to catch his breath.

"... Yeah, kiddo, and we're bringin' a new friend too." Kiona squealed in delight, exited.

Sans' phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket to answer, "Hey," he paused. "What time did you say?" He looked over at the clock on the wall. "Twenty minutes!?" At this, Papyrus scrubbed faster, his eye sockets bulging. "Okay, th–thanks, Tori." Sans and Papyrus began to work even faster and Kiona was left in a giggling fit as they scrubbed every part of the house.

Sans had already dressed Kiona up so that she was clean. He had Toriel fix her hair when she came because whenever he tried, her hair would get stuck in the joints between his fingers and it hurt. Since her hair was locked, there wasn't much Toriel could do, except wash it. Her hair was unsurprisingly dirty, as if Kiona had never had the chance to wash her hair in her life.

The door opened and Kiona froze, staring at the slightly ajar door. Frisk entered slowly, smiling at their friend, and Kiona laughed heartily. "Frisk friend!" She giggled as Frisk came to sit beside the door.

"Hey, Kiona!" Frisk greeted.

"Frisk watch giraffes with me?" Kiona asked.

"No, not right now. Mom's got a surprise."

"Surprise? A happy surprise? Debbie doesn't like scary surprises, those are bad," Kiona told her friend.

Frisk giggled, "Nope it's a good surprise! You wanna see?" Kiona nodded, grinning.

Toriel walked through the door, a woman beside her. Kiona recoiled instantly, staring warily at the woman. She was tall and had long brown hair with matching eyes. Her skin was tanned, giving it a golden brown color. Her lips were painted a modest shade of pink, and she was smiling at her. She wore a black blazer and a pink blouse underneath with black slacks and heeled boots that clacked softly against the ground whenever she took a step.

"Hello there, Kiona," the woman spoke, her voice as sweet as honey. "I am Mrs. Zavaleta. Do you know why I'm here, Kiona?" Kiona shook her head, staying the maximum distance away from the woman. "I'm here to make sure nobody tries to hurt you anymore."

"Mommy didn't hurt me," Kiona perked, "Can we go back to Mommy?" The woman gave a slight shake of her head.

"Your Mommy doesn't feel good right now. She is sick up here," Mrs. Lavaleta pointed to her head. "We're going to find you a new mommy."

"I don't want a new mommy," Kiona furrowed her brow. "I want my Mommy. She is good. Debbie likes Mommy too!"

"Who's Debbie, sweetheart?" She asked.

Kiona shrugged, "Debbie says hi." The woman chuckled, and Kiona began to laugh too. She liked laughing. It made her face look happy.

"Kiona, would you mind telling me a secret?"

"Kiona doesn't like secrets," Kiona piped. "Kiona likes friends and friends don't keep secrets. Mr. Gerry says that on the TV!"

"Yes, I've heard him say it," she nodded. "It's a good secret though, so you can still be friends." Kiona gave a small nod, and smiled at the woman. "Tell me, what happened at mommy's house? Did she hurt you? Did someone else hurt you?"

"Mommy–Mommy doesn't mean to!" Kiona replied, "Mommy sad, Kiona make Mommy happy! Then, Mommy won't be sad!"

"What about Zackiery? Did he hurt you?" Kiona's went wide, and she took a step away from the woman. That was all the reaction the woman needed as she asked her another question. "Kiona, I'm going to make sure Zackiery never hurts you again, okay?"

"Don't let him in! Don't let him in!" Kiona cried, peeking at the door between her fingers as the looked out the window and at the door.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I won't," Mrs. Lavaleta assured. "Is it okay if I ask you a few more questions? Then, I'll be done." Kiona looked at the woman warily, but nodded, "Good! Tell me, how are Mr. Sans and Mr. Papyrus treating you?" Kiona beamed happy for the subject change.

"Sans–Sans is really nice! He lets me watch giraffes on his phone! Do you wanna watch giraffes?" Kiona asked, nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"No thank you, sweetheart, maybe next time. What about Mr. Papyrus?"

"He's really nice! He likes to make the swirly yellow and red stuff and–and he showed me Santa! Santa is fun! Do you know Santa? He's a big man that goes ho-ho-ho!" The woman laughed, but Kiona wasn't finished. "Then, Kiona met Santa! He was really warm! And tall! Tall like a giraffe! He was a Santa Giraffe!"

"So, they're treating you good then?" Kiona nodded, "Are they feeding you? And making sure you take baths?"

"I don't like the food," Kiona frowned, "It tastes like Zackiery. But, Sans makes me get in the water! It's funny, and it makes my head heavy and my body wet and slippery!"

"What do you mean you don't like the food?" The woman asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"It tastes like him," Kiona repeated. "I can't — it hurts when it does! But Sans makes me. I don't like it."

"Okay, I'll talk to him then," Mrs. Lavaleta said, sending a glance towards the skeleton, who's smile seemed to grow in nervousness. "Last question, Kiona, do you remember your dad?"

"Daddy?" The woman nodded, "Daddy left to go fall somewhere. Mommy says he's not coming back and she finds new daddies. I don't want a new daddy, but then she gets sad when I tell her."

"Thank you Kiona!" The woman smiled, standing straight. "That's it! Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Yes, in the kitchen," Sans said, as the four of them gravitated towards the kitchen. Kiona and Frisk sat on the couch, and Frisk reached for the remote. Kiona stopped them, placing a hand on theirs. Frisk looked up, confused.

"Is... Is Sans in trouble?" Kiona asked, a hint of fear on her tone. "I don't—I don't want Sans to—"

"It's okay, Kiona," Frisk assured. "Sans isn't in trouble, and even if he was, I wouldn't allow anything to happen to him, and neither would Mom or Papy, trust me." Kiona nodded, moving away, and Frisk the television remote and turned on the TV.

"So, what's the situation?" Sans asked, as they sat down. He closed the sliding door, in order to give them some privacy.

"Tell me more about how you found her," Mrs. Lavaleta said as she pulled out a note pad, ready to write their answers down.

"Frisk did," Toriel said. "She was freezing in the blizzard a few weeks ago. We are not certain how long she was out there, but it was enough to give her mild hypothermia, pneumonia and frostbite."

"Okay..." She said, scratching a few things down. "And, your met her biological mother?"

"Yes," Toriel replies. "We are not sure how she arrived here. We thought her mother may have dropped her off, but nothing is certain."

Mrs. Lavaleta bit her lip and Sans' eye sockets narrowed. "Is everything alright?" He asked, his tone ridged.

"No..." She sighed. "This is a very... Delicate situation. There are few options you can legally take from this point on."

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked, confused, "Can we not adopt the small, cold human?"

"Well, yes, but... Let me explain," Mrs. Lavaleta took a deep breath. "Legally, Kiona is still Hoana Pala's child, since she has not disowned her legally, or given her up for adoption. Now, since it is obviously shown that Hoana hasn't been taking care of Kiona properly, she can — and will — be taken in for child abuse, and child molest, along with her boyfriend. If she is taken in, Kiona will have to be given into the hands of the Foster Care system if she has no relatives to claim guardianship of her."

"I don't see the issue here," Sans frowned, "Why can't we adopt her?"

"Well, first, there are several rules and regulations put ahead before you can adopt a child — you'll have to get your apartment inspected in order to be sure that it fits the right requirements to adopt a child. Then, you'll have to get background checks, et cetera, et cetera. It's a long process, and will probably take a couple months, for some, half a year."

"We cannot wait half a year to adopt her!" Papyrus exclaimed to the woman, shocked, "Can we not keep her now? I, the Great Papyrus, can assure you that she is in proper hands!"

"I'm sure you can," Mrs. Lavaleta smiled warmly. "But that's just how the system works."

"Well, where will Kiona go while they are being checked?" Toriel asked, "May I take her in?"

"If you get proper custody over her, yes, that would be perfectly fine," the woman agreed. "You'll have to take that up into court and testify for her. However, as far as Monster rights go, they're still debating a lot of simple things. Whether or not Monsters' can do this or that. There's a lot of backlash over it, from both sides of the argument, and they're moving at a snails place, debating things like this. So, I'm not sure if Monsters' are allowed to testify in court yet, and it'll be a shame if they deny you those rights too."

"Why argue these things?" Papyrus asked, leaning forward, confused and upset. "Why can we not go to this Court!? I am sure they are simply confused, maybe they should check their guest lists to see which monsters are on there!"

Sans placed a hand on Papyrus' forearm, "I don't think that's how that works, bro." Papyrus huffed, but sat back in his chair. It creaked against the movement, but held firm anyway.

"Like I said, delicate situation," Mrs. Lavaleta continued. "Even if you get custody over Kiona, it'll still be at least a couple months until then, which means she would still have to go to a Foster Home."

"So... We'll just have to wait then," Sans said, his tone heavy.

"I am afraid so. I would really like to put her into your custody, but that is not my decision to make. If it were up to me, Hoana and that Zackiery would be on a one-way ticket to a federal prison, but since I can't do that, I can put in good word for you two, maybe help the process get moved along quicker. And, I'll find a good Foster Home too, somewhere close and convenient."

"We will be able to visit the small, cold human in the Foster Home, right?" Papyrus asked, his tone worried.

Lavaleta's eyes softened, "Yes, I promise. I'll try to get her back here before you even notice."

"Kiona has to go?" Kiona asked, a sad quiver to her voice. Sans, who had been packing her a small suitcase that they had borrowed from the Dreemurs, sighed.

"M'sorry kid, but that's what that lady a few days ago said," he did not sound happy at all, and Kiona could tell very well.

"Sans is sending Kiona—"

"I'm not!" Sans interjected before she could finish. "We're not sending you away, kiddo. We... We need to fix some thin's so you can stay with us forever."

"And Debbie too?"

"Yes, and Debbie, so," Sans finally zipped the case shut, and sat it upright. "Don't worry about it."

Sans led Kiona down the hall and to the front door. Papyrus stood there, along with Frisk. Toriel wanted to come, but had to decline due to an important meeting at her school. Frisk gave Kiona a comforting smile, but she didn't seem to acknowledge it.

Sans held her hand, and Papyrus had his keys. "Well... Come along, nyeh-heh-heh! We need to be at the Foster Home by two, and I, the Great Papyrus, is never late!" He flipped his keys in his hands, and Kiona didn't meet his eyes.

Papyrus drove the four of them to the Foster Home, following the directions Mrs. Lavaleta have them.

Kiona leaned on Frisk's shoulder in the back seat. She hadn't spoken a word since they started the ride, and it began to scare them a little. Maybe, Frisk thought, she was just scared, or confused.

Frisk tried to do everything they could to comfort her, but nothing seemed to be working. Frisk feared that that wall that separated her from them when they first met a couple months ago, would return.

Frisk shook their head strongly, that was the last thing they wanted! They were determined to keep their friendship with Kiona, and nothing was going to stop them!

When they arrived at the Foster Home, Sans and Papyrus could see all the kids running around in the yard. Frisk glanced out the window too, "This looks promising!" They smiled. Kiona had moved, Debbie the giraffe was in her lap, and she was slowly squeezing her, and messing with her cotton-filled limbs.

Papyrus stopped the car, and someone approached them. A woman, she stood tall, and wore a light pink pantsuit. Her brown hair was tied up in an intricate bun, and her fair skin had sharp cheek bones. Her pink lips turned into a smile, as greeted the two monsters. "Hello there. Welcome to my Foster Home. I am Ms. Teller, but you may call me Ophelia."

"Hello Ophelia!" Papyrus smiled wide. "We are here to drop off our small, cold human, right Sans?"

"Yeah, bro," Sans replied.

"Well, then, may I see her?" Ophelia asked. Sans got out of the car, and moved to the back seat. The woman's dark stare bored into the back of his skull, but he tried not to show any signs of this annoying him.

Sans opened the door, allowing Frisk as Kiona to step out. Frisk helped Kiona with her suitcase as she slowly exited the car. "Oh," Ms. Teller said, her tone disappointed.

"Oh?" Sans repeated, almost insulted.

"It is nothing," she assured. I've expressed interest in housing Monster orphans, but I haven't gotten word back from CPS. I assumed that you two would be bringing a Monster child, but it seems I was wrong. I apologize for the assumptions." Sans stared at her warily, before giving a slow nod. "Well, if you could come with me. The children can play with the others while we file some paperwork, and then she'll be all set!"

"Thank you, human!" Papyrus said cheerily, as the five of them made their way inside.

Kiona and Frisk sat on a short bench outside of a small office in the house. A few children walked, or ran pasted them, but no one stopped to greet either of them. Frisk turned to Kiona, who still hadn't spoken a word. Frisk was concerned at this point, but didn't quite know how to voice it. Finally, they caved, and touched Kiona's hand.

Kiona didn't react. She didn't pull away like she would usually do. She didn't jump, or get alarmed. She didn't even blink. Kiona simply continue to stare at the wall in front of them, her face impassive.

"Kiona?" Frisk spoke, almost hesitantly, "Hey, Kiona? Are you okay? Is there something wrong? You can — you can talk to me, if you're, you know, scared."

Kiona didn't say anything for several long seconds. "... Was I bad?" Kiona finally asked, her voice small, almost drowned out in the sound of all the other children in the rooms close to them. "Sans–Sans mad at me? I–I'm sorry..."

"Sans isn't mad at you!" Frisk assured, "He... He and Papyrus just need to sort some things out before they can adopt you! I'm pretty sure Mom is making some arrangements too, so I don't think you'll be here long! They'll come back and take you away from here as soon as they can! And, they said they'd visit while they were getting ready to take you out! So–So don't worry, Kiona, Sans and Paps don't hate you — they love you, a lot! They... They really care about you. And, for Sans to go through all this stuff just so he can see you everyday, that's saying a lot!"

Kiona didn't say anything, she just turned so she was looking at her shoes now. However, Frisk did notice a tear slipping past her cheek.

Sorry for the long wait! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, there's a lot coming up!

Minor note, for all the legal stuff, I'm, like, 60% that it's true. But, let's pretend it's 100% for the sake of the plot.

What do you guys think about the Foster Home? And the short bits on Monster Rights — don't forget about that, by the way. I've been thinking a lot on the concept of 'SlaveTale', assuming that slavery did happen in the Undertale-Verse, but I don't think that if Monsters were to come out of the Underground, humans would immediately enslave them. Maybe overtime, yes, because that's what they did with the Africans in the 1500s.

They dehumanize them first, strip them off everything, then enslave them. It's have to happen slowly, so people would be able to get comfortable with it, comfortable enough so that nobody would complain. Then, they'd depict them as 'happy' when if were slaves and 'happy' to be used — which they did with actual slaves too.

I don't know why I've been giving this so much thought, it was just an interesting topic for me — and slavery is one of my favourite topics in school, with WW2 following short after.

Enough about that though, I'll see y'all next time, and remember...

Don't melt~!

~ Happyritas OOO


	9. - nine -

**Chapter Nine:**

Someone knocked on the bedroom door, but Kiona didn't move. She laid on the bottom bunk, still curled on her mattress. Another knock, which again was followed by silence. Then, the door opened, eerily creaking on its hinges.

" _Kiona_ ," the tone was hard and flat, and she flinched, sinking into the mattress. "It is time for dinner, come down stairs. The others are waiting on you." Kiona didn't say a word, "Kiona, do not make me ask again." Again, nothing.

The woman gave a sigh — but it could pass as a huff of annoyance. She walked over and yanked the covers off of Kiona. She screamed, and curled in on herself. Kiona could imagine Zackiery crawling over on the bed, her eyes burning with an endless desire.

"Kiona, I understand that you are experiencing issues with your eating disorder, but you need to eat." Kiona wanted her to stop, she needed her to stop. "You will die if you continue to live like this, as there is not much I can do to fix that."

Kiona wailed, covering her head with her pillow, her teeth biting down harshly on her lip. "Kiona, calm down!" The woman ordered, but Kiona refused. Ms. Teller tried several more times to calm the child down before finally leaving, closing the door behind her sharply.

~•~•~•~

Kiona sat silently besides Sans. They were sitting in the house's front yard, in front of a tree. Kiona was curled at his side, and Sans was stroking her hair. "I have about an hour left, kiddo," Sans said gently. "Don't'cha wanna do somethin' else? We can go out, if ya want. Pick up Frisk an' head down to the park." Kiona didn't respond. "Do ya like this place? Is anyone... Bein' mean to ya?"

"Kiona misses Sans," Kiona mumbled, "Can I come home now?" Sans inhaled sharply, closing his eye sockets.

"I really wish I didn't have to, kid, I really do," Sans sighed. "But, things are moving slow right now. I promise we'll get you home though, alright?"

Kion stared at him, tears growing in her eyes. Guilt rippled through Sans as he tried to comfort her. "I'm sorry Kiona, I wish I could change that — I really do. I wish you could come home, but—" Kiona didn't hear the rest. She ran back inside, pushing past the others girls and going to her bed. She could hear Sans knocking on the door, asking her to come out, but she didn't listen. Eventually Sans left, and Kiona was left alone.

~•~•~•~

"Hey, Kiona, do you wanna hang out after school today?" Frisk asked Kiona. Kiona was sitting at her desk, her old journal in front of her. She was scribbling something, but Frisk couldn't see what. "We could go to the park, if you want. Mom says it's suppose to snow again, but not as bad as the blizzard in December. Maybe, we can go before it gets too cold."

Kiona didn't say a word, her hand clenching her pencil. "Or, we could go to my house? Mom says that she has a new Butterscotch-cinnamon recipe that she'd like to try. She wants to make a cake with it, so—"

Kiona's pencil snapped in half, and she let out a cry. Frisk stared as Kiona threw the broken pieces of the pencil ahead of her, and it bounced off the wall harmlessly. She screamed, putting her head on the table, and wrapping her arms around her.

Frisk was quiet for a while, only listening to Kiona breathe, until finally, Kiona began to sob. It was quiet and broken. She kept hiccuping and sometimes let out wails of pain.

Frisk was hesitant to approach her. "... Kiona?"

"I... I want..." Kiona sniffed, " _Mommy_."

"But she _hurt_ you!" Frisk said, concerned. "Maybe, my mom can—"

"I want to go _home_!" Kiona screamed, silencing her friend. "I–I want _mommy_ ," she sobbed. "I just... I..."

"Okay," Frisk said, carefully. "Okay, we will, Kiona."

"I... We're going to go back to mommy? Kiona can go home?"

"Yeah, sure. Just let me ask Mom, okay?" Kiona stared at Frisk, like she hadn't seen them in her life. Then, she let out a small laugh, and hugged them. Tears dripped down her cheeks, as she laughed hysterically. Frisk, for their part, was frozen. They didn't know how they were going to convince Kiona's mother that she needed to see her daughter again.

Frisk had to though. Kiona needed her mother — she would never be the same without her. Maybe, with the right words and under the right circumstances, Frisk could convince Hoana that her daughter truly needed her, and in return the woman needed her daughter.

The bell for lunch rang, and Kiona jumped, covering her ears, but it quickly ended. Once it finished, Kiona brought together her things, and left for their next class, giggling the entire way.

~•~•~•~

"Bring Kiona _back_ to her mother?" Toriel exclaimed, surprised. She was standing over the sink, washing the dishes from dinner. Frisk was standing beside their mother, drying them and putting them away.

"She needs her, mom," Frisk explained. "She isn't happy right now. If we just talked to Hoana, explained the situation and what Kiona can do, maybe she would change her mind."

" _Frisk_ ," Toriel sighed, "I understand your concern for Kiona and I understand that you are their friend and you want to help her. However, I believe that bringing Hoana to Kiona will do much more harm than it would good, my child."

"But, Kiona _needs_ her, mom," Frisk stressed. "She's _needs_ a mother, and she won't recognize you as one. She needs _her_ mother. If we just went to Hoana, explained her situation, maybe she would have a change of heart." Toriel stopped washing the dishes and sighed.

"Frisk," their mother began. "Your determination to help everyone is commendable, and I love you for it, my child. But, Hoana _cannot_ regain custody of Kiona. I simply do not trust her, not after what she put Kiona through. Not everyone can change, my child. I know you wish to help Kiona, but I believe we might have to let this one go." Toriel leaned over to plant a soft kiss on Frisk's forehead, before standing once more. "I will finish these, you may head off to bed. Thank you, my child. Good night."

"Goodnight, mom," Frisk murmured, feeling disheartened. They made their way to their room, falling on their bed.

"Why do you look like that?" Flowey asked beside them, slightly disgusted.

"I want to bring Kiona back her mom, but I don't know how," Frisk grumbled. "Mom doesn't think I should talk to her mom, especially after what happened to Kiona, but..." Frisk sighed, running their hands down their face. "Kiona needs her mom, Azzie. She _really_ loves her mom, despite what she has done to her. Maybe if Hoana just talked to her, or understood her, maybe she would love her again. Besides, I promised Kiona that I'd find a way..."

"You could just go yourself," Flowey suggested with a shrug. "I mean, you can protect yourself, and we all know you aren't exactly a ' _child_ ' anymore. Just head over tonight, explain the situation. If things get rough, then get out, or ask Chara."

Frisk let out a dry chuckle, "Please. I don't think they'll help me, especially after what happened last time."

 _"I wouldn't say so so soon_ ~," a voice purred beside Frisk. They turned, glaring at the blood red ghost that hung in the air. " _Let's weigh the options, hm? You go help your retarded friend, and I get you out, with only a little blood spilt_."

" _First of all_ , she is _not_ retarded. Second, we're not killing anyone, _period_. Third, you aren't helping at all because you called her that."

" _Hey_!" Chara hissed, " _I want in_!"

"You should've thought about that before you called my best friend a retard," Frisk glared. "Go away Chara."

"Fine!" Chara hissed, he black, ectoplasmic substance dripping from their eyes and mouth. They disappeared, and Frisk let out a huff of annoyance.

"That didn't go well..." Flowey muttered, and Frisk nodded, agreeing bitterly. "You could always go with _my_ plan," Flowey suggested, "As long as you take me with you, of course."

Frisk scoffed, "Even if I did do your plan, you aren't coming."

"Oh really?" Flowey grinned, "Then, I suppose I'll just have to tell mom that their perfect little child went out at night alone to go to Kiona's mom's house, after they specifically told them not to~..." Frisk could feel their face grow red with anger.

"I hate you," Frisk grumbled.

"Keep telling yourself that."

~•~•~•~

Frisk pulled their jacket tighter to their chest in order to block the severely cold winds. They made their way up the steps and knocked on the door. It was early, nearly two AM. There were lights still on inside, and the could hear people moving.

"Knock again," Flowey instructed from their backpack, and Frisk did.

" _Gimme a second_!" A muffled voice shouted from inside the house. A few minutes later the door opened. The putrid scent of drugs spilled out from the house, making Frisk recoil slightly.

Hoana stood before her, a still burning blunt between her fingers as she stared hard at Frisk. "I don't want any fucking cookies," The woman said harshly.

"I'm not selling any," Frisk replied. "I'm a friend of Kiona's. You might remember me? We came a few months ago on behalf of your daughter." The woman's eyes narrowed at the name. "Look, I know you don't want anything to do with her, but Kiona needs you. If you could just talk to her, or arrange something to—" the woman began to close the door, but Frisk was faster, sticking a newspaper they had snatched from a driveway, putting it between the door's lock.

"Go home, you little shit," Hoana hissed from the other side of the door.

"She's _special,"_ Frisk blurted. "She can use _magic_." Hoana was quiet for a moment, before slowly opening the door.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Hoana demanded, her eyes narrowed.

Frisk inhaled, "When the barrier broke, magic was released into the world. Kiona is one of the few kids her age that can use magic. I... We don't know why, but maybe if she has a motherly figure in her life, then she could learn to control it. You could help her."

"I don't _want_ her," Hoana deadpanned.

"You don't have to," Frisk replied, their voice rushed. "Just... Arrange something to talk to her. She's in a foster home right now and—"

"Listen, kid," Hoana said, her arms crossed. "I don't want that little shit. As in, I don't want to see her again. I'm glad she's gone, for all intents and purposes. So wherever you're keeping her, keep her there. I don't want her back, you guys can have her." Hoana turned to leave, closing the door again.

"She's your _daughter_!" Frisk exclaimed, their voice rising with anger. " _You_ decided to have a kid, so it's _your_ responsibility to take care of her! Kiona _loves_ you! She wants to live with you again, despite how badly _you_ mistreated her! Why don't you _want_ her?! Why don't you _love_ her!?"

"Because, she was _useless_ ," Hoana snapped. "Nobody wants a retard piece of _shit_ for a kid. If she was _pretty_ , or if she was _smart_ , then yeah, _maybe_ , but she _wasn't_. The only thing that little bitch did was sit and colour fucking _giraffes_! How the _hell_ are you supposed to use anything with that!? She'd be better off dead, if you ask me." With that, Hoana pushed the newspaper out of the way and slammed the door.

" _Well_ ," Chara said, floating above Frisk, who was still glaring at the door. " _That went_ swimmingly."


	10. - ten -

**Chapter Ten:**

Kiona sat at the tree in the yard quietly, doodling in her notebook. The other girls played around her, doing flips or running around. They talked very loudly, and Kiona didn't like it, but it was even louder inside the house.

Kiona brought her legs to her chest, breathing quickly. Sans hadn't come in several days, and the Pink Lady said he left her here. Kiona didn't want to stay here, by herself. She wanted her mommy!

"Everyone inside for supper!" The Pink Lady called out and all the girls ran around her, but Kiona didn't move. When the Pink Lady noticed she was the last, she sighed, and went to Kiona. Easily, she picked her up and brought her inside herself.

Kiona was screaming, "No! No, please! Za--" The Pink Lady hit her, a sharp slap across the face. Kiona was silent, her eyes on the floor.

"When I say it's time for supper then I want you inside for supper, do you hear me, Kiona?" The Pink Lady hissed. Kiona gave a small nod. "Good. Now, go inside and wash up."

"Yes, mommy," Kiona murmured, and walked inside, forgetting to pick up her journal.

~•~•~•~

Kiona woke up to sounds outside. It sounded like muffled talking. Slowly, she went to the window, her feet cold against the bare wooden floor.

Kiona peeked out the window looking down. There was a lady in the yard. She had long, dark hair and brown skin. It took her a moment, but Kiona recognized her. " _Mommy_?" She said, but the woman didn't turn. "Mommy!" Still, no response.

"What're you doin', Kiona?" A tired voice asked from one of the beds.

" _Mommy_!" Kiona cried, happily.

"Go back to sleep." She grumbled, and then fell asleep herself. Kiona didn't listen. She ran out the room, and down the steps, opening the door to go outside.

" _Mommy_!" Kiona cried, tears in her eyes. "Mommy, you came back!" Kiona remembered Frisk's promise to her a few weeks ago, and smiled.

"Kiona," Her mother said, waving to someone, then smiled at her. "Hey, baby, how are you doing?" Kiona ran to her, ready to leap into her arms and hug her. When she was less than a foot away, someone grabbed her around the waist, and placed a rag over her mouth and nose.

"Let's go," a deep voice said, and Kiona looked up. Zackiery was holding her, and running towards a car. Kiona screamed, but the sound was muffled as the two ran down the street.

Kiona's head began to feel light and her stomach churned. The world began to slowly blur around her, and get darker until she was engulfed in silence.

~•~•~•~

"She cannot just be gone," Toriel said. "She went to bed last night, maybe she's... Hiding around the house."

"I looked _everywhere_ , Tori," Sans sighed, exaushted. "She's not here."

"I've already called the police," Ophelia said. "They have sent out an Amber Alert for her, but they can't call her missing until forty-eight hours has passed. It's protocol. I have every contact that I know on lookout for her, and--"

" _Forty-eight hours_?! She'll be _gone_ in forty-eight hours!" Sans snapped.

"I told them that, but they wouldn't change their minds." Sans let out animalistic growl, his fists clenched.

"Do not worry, Sans," Toriel spoke softly. "I am sure she'll come home. She did it before." Sans scoffed, crossing his arms. "I have to pick up Frisk from school. They... Do not know what happened yet..."

Sans sighed, he had only heard the news that morning, well after Frisk was sent to school. "If ya hear anythin'," Sans said, and the woman nodded simply.

"Of course, you'll be the first I contact," Ophelia replied. Sans nodded, agreeing, turning to leave. A girl was sitting in the hall, staring at Sans, but turned her head as soon as he walked past, her eyes suddenly focused on the floor.

Ophelia stepped out of the room, turning to the girl. "Well, Denah, I suppose you're feeling better then, hmm?" The girl nodded. "Go to the study room then. Might as well learn while you're here," She nodded again, and turned to leave. Sans still felt the girl's stares as she had left.

~•~•~•~

Frisk stared at their mother, frozen. "Frisk, dear, are you alright?" Toriel asked gently. "I know this is a lot to take in, but the police are doing everything they can on it, and--" Frisk didn't hear the rest. They ran, racing up the steps and slamming their bedroom door.

Tears welled in Frisk's eyes. She couldn't be gone, they just got her back! Where did she go!? "What's wrong with you?" Flowey asked from their dresser, giving Frisk an odd look. "You look upset. It's disgusting."

"Kiona's gone," Frisk said, their voice a hush. "She... She went missing last night, and..." Frisk sniffed, swiping a hand under their nose.

"Oh," Flowey frowned. "She just... ? Does that Smiling Trashbag have anything to do with this? I mean, disappearing is his speciality."

"What?" Frisk glared, "Of course not! Sans loves Kiona, he would never kidnap her like... That's crazy, don't even say that."

"Just a suggestion, sheesh," Flowey muttered.

" _Honestly, I'm not surprised your friend was kidnapped_ ," Chara said, appearing beside Frisk, fiddling with their locks. " _I was looking at this thing earlier -- do you know how much kid magicians are worth_?"

"Why were you looking that up?" Frisk asked, confused.

" _It just showed up,_ " Chara shrugged. " _That's not the point. My point is, kid magicians are worth_ alot _. Like, if dad bought the city, a_ _lot_ "

"What, so you're saying she was sold away?!" Frisk demanded, feeling nauseated from the thought. Kiona just got away from her mom's sick boyfriend and now this?!

"What would you even _use_ them for?" Flowey asked. Frisk felt a blush rise up their cheeks.

"Why are we talking about this?! Maybe, Kiona just went to go see her mom again, like she did last time."

" _I mean, other than..._ You know," Even Chars had the decency to look embarrassed. " _Magicians have strong reserves for magic and kid magicians even more so._ "

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked confused.

" _Okay. So, you know how Alphys always kept talking about how humans are so awesome because they all have some kind of magic,_ blah blah blah?" Frisk gave a hesistant nod. " _Well, since a human's magic draws on their energy, kids tend to be more powerful than adults because they're able to use magic for longer time periods. As they get older, they get weaker and die_."

"What does this have to do with Kiona?" Frisk asked, eyes narrowed.

" _You know how the CORE was powered with the magic that monsters emanate_?"

"Yeah..."

" _Well, people have been using kid magicians to power stuff like that, but bigger, since a human is more durable than a monster_." Frisk gaped at Chara, who seemed pleased with themselves. " _Crazy, right? And I thought_ I _was insane_!"

"That's... They're..." Frisk closed their eyes, gripping the end of the bed. "They're using Kiona like a _human battery_."

" _Well, they can't use Kiona, she doesn't have magic,"_ Chara shrugged.

"But what about that thing Frisk said, when she turned their soul grey or something?" Flowey asked, intruiged.

" _I saw that, and I noticed something_ ," Chara grinned.

"What did you see?" Frisk asked.

" _Hmm_..." They sighed, " _I just had it too, but I can't seem to jog my memory. Damn, oh well_ ~..." Frisk pulled out a Hershey's bar from under their mattress and broke it in half. Chara grinned, entering Frisk and chowing down on the her easily. When they finished the half, Frisk took their body back.

"What do you know?" Frisk demanded. They didn't like chocolate all that much, but Chara loved the taste of eating it, since they couldn't enjoy it anymore. Not while they were a ghost.

" _Your friend is basically a sponge_." Chara said simply. " _You give out the emotions and other stuff to her and she soaks it up and turns it into energy that she can use. Her soul is empty when she's not using anyone's emotions. They can use her just like that, sucking up people's emotions and magic, and they'll use that to power whatever the hell they need._ "

Frisk stared at the ground. "Whoever did this... They had to know she was magic, and nobody does! How would they have known?"

" _Did you tell anyone_?" Chara asked, smirking in delight.

"No! The only ones who knew were us! The only person I told was...--" Frisk was still, their eyes wide in shock and horror. "Oh _god_ , I told her mom."

" _Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner_!" Chara said sarcastically.

"But, how would she have found out where she was?" Flowey asked curiously. "We didn't give her directions."

"I did," Frisk sighed. "I wrote it on that newspaper. I thought -- I thought I was doing the right thing!"

" _Well, look where that got you_ ," Chara laughed. " _Ah, this is just too good! Just wait 'til Mom and Dad hear how their amazing child actually let their bestfriend get kidnapped_!"

"That's _not_ going to happen," Frisk spoke angrily. "That's not going to happen because _we're_ going to find her."

"' _We_ '?" Flowey laughed. "You dug this hole yourself, _idiot_."

" _We_ are going, because _I_ would never had gone if _you_ hadn't suggested it. This is just as much _my_ fault as it is _yours_." Frisk said, fiercely.

" _Don't try to turn this on me_ ," Chara said, hands raised. " _For once, I'm innocent_."

" _Yes_ ," Frisk agreed, "But, if you _don't_ help, I'll never eat another piece of chocolate for you, and I won't speak a word to you for the next _month_!" Frisk knew they hit a soft spot, Chara hated not being spoken to -- being ignored. Even if they didn't admit it, it was one of the things that scared them to the bone. Not to mention Chara would actually to insane if they didn't get their beloved chocolate.

Black ectoplasm filled their mouth and eyes -- something that frequently happened when they were upset, or wanted to scare someone. " ** _You wouldn't dare_**!" Chara hissed.

"I _would_ , and I _will_ ," Frisk spoke, their tone hard. "You're both helping me get Kiona back -- period."

~•~•~•~

Kiona woke up in a dark room. She was cold and a little wet from lying on the floor. Kiona tried to sit up and looked around, but found that her hands were tied behind her, and her mouth was forced open by a rag.

" _Mmmhm! Mmm_!" She cried, but was unable to make coherent words. The sounds, however, drew people to her because she heard heavy footsteps. Before she could move or say anything else, a familiar man squatted down in front of her.

Kiona screamed immediately, trying to move as far away from Zackiery as possible. Zackiery chuckled, "Are you really that scared of lil' old me?" He teased darkly. Tears formed in Kiona's eyes, and curled away from him, sobbing.

"Leave her alone, Zackie," Kiona heard her mother say. "She needs to save her energy for when the buyers get here."

"C'mon, can't I have a little fun with her? It won't hurt anyone," Zackiery said smoothly.

Hoana scoffed, looking away. "Hurry up." Zackiery smiled and began to unbutton his pants. Kiona screamed again, trying to wriggle away, but Zackiery had already grabbed the back of her shirt, dragging her back to him forcefully. He undid the gag on her mouth and Kiona immediately started screaming.

" _No! No_! _Please_! No, no, no, _please_! No--!" Zackiery struck her and her head fell to the side her eyes closing for a moment.

Zackiery took her face and forced her down, Kiona screamed again, which only resulted in a sharp punch to the stomach. Kiona doubled over, her ribs burning. Zackiery took that chance to shove it down her mouth. Kiona gagged, bile rising and falling out of the corners of her mouth. Zackiery grinned devilishly, and continued relentlessly.

Twenty minutes later, he finally stopped, and pulled away from her. Kiona turned and vomited immediately, her throat burning as she kept heaving up bile and the food she had barely eaten the night before. Zackiery laughed, as Kiona continued, tears flooding down her cheeks. Finally, she fell to her side, breathing heavily.

"They're here," Kiona's mom spoke, standing. Zackiery pulled his pants back on, and put the gag back on Kiona.

Several minutes later, three big men walked in, solemnly. "You have the girl?" One of them asked.

"You have the money?" Hoana replied tursley. The man grinned and pulled over a lime green suitcase. One of the men beside him opened it to reveal stacks of cash wrapped in cheap rubber bands. "Non-traceable?"

"We made especially sure it wasn't," he replied simply. Hoana stepped forward, but the man drawed it back. "Show us she's magic." Hoana and Zackiery looked over to Kiona, who was lying on her side still, trying to get her breathing under control.

Zackiery went over and picked her up easily. "Here," he grunted dropping her at his feet.

Her mom bent down beside her, and Kiona turned dully to the woman. "Kiona, sweetie, could you show us a bit of your magic?" Hoana's soft sounds made Kiona tear up. She hadn't heard her mother talk to her like that in years.

"Mommy," she blubbered. "Mommy, _help_ \--"

"You're _magic_!" Zackiery interrupted and Kiona flinched. "Show us your _magic_!"

Kiona still looked at her mother, waiting for her permission. "Kiona, show them your magic," Hoana spoke sternly.

"Yes, Mommy," Kiona murmured. She focused on one of men, and slowly, a green heart floated away from his body. Every stared at it as it slowly turned from green, to blood red.

The man's eyes slowly began to fill with rage. And he turned to the man beside him. "I _know_ you slept with Maia," he hissed.

" _What_ \--?"

"Don't try to fuckin' deny it! I heard you and that _slut_!" He growled.

"It was only _one_ night," the other tried to reason.

"One night my _ass_!" He glared, "I should kill you, _and_ that whore. In fact," he pulled out his gun, his movements sloppy, as if he were drunk on his own rage.

"Whoa. Wait a second, Donny," The second man said, glancing to Kiona. "Make her stop! Now!" Hoana began to shake Kiona, trying to bring her out of the trance she was in.

" _Fuck you,"_ he growled, and three shot rang out. At the sound of the gun, Kiona screamed, ducking her head. The spell was broken and Kiona was trembling.

Kiona heard a thud as the man fell on his back. The other groaned, holding his head. "What the hell just...?" He looked at the deadman, shocked. "Mikey? Hey?" The man said, shaking the his shoulder. " _Mike_! What the--!? He's bleeding! Someone shot him, who--?!" The man looked down, noticing the heavy weight of the gun in his hand. "What the _fuck_ did she do to me!?" He hissed, glaring at Kiona.

"The deal's still on the table," The first man spoke smoothly. "Give us the girl."

Hoana moved to grab the bag, but Zackiery grabbed her wrist. " _Wait_ ," he said, narrowing his eyes. "We want _double_."

The man laughed, "Don't be silly, boy. Give us the girl."

"That's _not_ normal magic. She's _worth_ double."

"Don't get greedy, we agreed on that price--"

"Which was before we knew she could do that. Give us double, or you get nothing and we'll find some other dealer that'll buy her."

The man grinded his teeth, angrily contemplating. "Go get some more money from the car, Don," The man spoke coldly.

"What? Really, Ral, you're--"

"Did I fucking _stutter_?" The man, Ral, turned to Don, his eyes blazing with fury. "Go to the car and get the money from Leo." His voice was so cold it sent chills down Kiona's spine.

Don moved immediately, leaving the four of them in silence. Twenty minutes later, Don returned with another dark purple suitcase of money.

Zackiery grinned, and kicked Kiona, his foot driving into the small of her back as he pushed her towards them. Kiona trembled as she hit the ground, trying to move away, but failed. Don grabbed the back of her shirt. From being this close, Kiona could smell the sharpness and stink of her mother's favourite drink. It didn't smell good, but her mother always drank it so she learned to ignore it.

The man glared at her, "M'gonna make you pay for what you did to Mikey."

Kiona began to cry, squirming in the man's hands, "M--Mommy! Mo--Mommey, please, he--help--" the man slammed his fist into the gut of her stomach. Kiona whimpered, curling up as her chest burned in pain.

Don laughed heartily, as Ral waved, "This will be our goodbye. I cannot wait until we meet again, hopefully under better terms."

Then, the sharp sound of sirens pierced the air, and Kiona tugged against his hands, glowering down at her. " _Police_ ," Hoana muttered. "Must've heard the gunshot and came. Damn."

Kiona finally got his grip loose enough to move. Kiona fell away, her head landing on the concrete with a sharp crack and immediately the world went black.


	11. - eleven -

**Chapter Eleven:**

Everything around Kiona seemed blurred. Her head was pounding and she felt something wet run down beside her ear. Someone grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over their shoulders. They were running, and Kiona's limp body bounced with every step.

Kiona was shoved in a car that smelled of strong smoke. Someone was shouting and then they drove, speeding away.

Kiona heard the loud sirens that followed them, and someone swore. Kiona eyes fluttered closed, her head pounding like a drum. Slowly, the noise around her faded, as she fell unconscious.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Sans noticed the looks of curiosity that was given to him and Toriel as they entered the police station. Some of them looked at the duo with disgust. Actually, no, most of them were disgusted, and Sans sighed, annoyed.

A man approached them. He was broad shouldered and dark-skinned - Frisk had informed him that people of his skin tone were Black, or African American. Sans noticed that he was the only ' _African-American_ ' that he had seem since he enter the police station.

"You must be, Mrs. Dreemurr," The man said, his voice deep and serious. He stretched out his hand and Toriel took it, and shook his hand gratefully. "And you must be-"

"Sans," Sans finished, and the man nodded.

"Let's not beat around the bush," He said seriously, "Would you mind coming to my office?"

"Of course," Toriel nodded and the man led the duo down a hall and into a brightly lit room. The shutters on the curtains were closed, but sunlight still managed to peek through, despite its efforts.

The man motioned to the two seats, but neither one of them sat down. Sans mainly didn't because he had been a ball of nerves the entire trip here. If he sat down now, he couldn't convince himself to get back up.

"As I said over the phone, I am Director Wilson, but you can call me Martin," he said. "We have both of them, Hoana Pala, and Zackiery Jackson. Neither have been responding to any of my officers, despite out best attempts. However, she did meet you, is that right, Mrs. Dreemurr?"

"Yes, she did," Toriel agreed.

"I hope you don't mind, but, we were hoping that you could talk to her. Being a mother yourself and - please don't take this the wrong way - if she dislikes you enough, she might spill."

"I understand," Toriel nodded solemnly.

"You said there might be a body," Sans spoke, and Director Wilson turned. "On the phone, you said someone died."

"Yes. We did get reports of gunshots, however, the body our forensics team recovered was not Kiona's." Sans shoulders sagged, and he seemed to let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Kiona was still alive. She was gone, but she was still _alive_. "The body recovered was a man who had been a member of a gang that was in one of our neighboring cities. Although the murder had been here, he is native to that city, therefore it is not our jurisdiction. However, the men and women on that team are some of my closest friends. I trust them to do their job properly."

"Thank you," Toriel said kindly and the man nodded.

"It's part of our job," Wilson said. "Protect and serve - that includes Monsters, and especially children. Some people on our staff haven't seem to have gotten that memo yet," he said honestly. "Now, let's get this over with."

 **~•~•~•~•~**

The door opened and Toriel stepped inside the small room, and was followed by a female officer. Hoana, who was handcuffed to the table, glanced up. Then, she let out a scoff, and looked back down.

Toriel sat, her hands resting on her lap. "Miss Pala-"

"Don't call me that," the woman cut her off immediately.

" _Hoana_ ," Toriel fixed. "Where is she?"

Hoana laughed, "You're going to have to try harder than that."

"I do not want to have to try any harder than this," Toriel admitted. "She is just a child, she does not deserve this."

"She doesn't _deserve_ this?" The woman scoffed again. "That child had been a pain in my _ass_ since she was born. Everyday, whining and crying! All I wanted was a normal child, a adorable little girl, and look at what I got? A defected _retard_."

Toriel inhaled, "What did you do with her?"

"I did you a favour," Hoana replied. "Trust me when I say, she's no good."

"She is plenty good," Toriel said. "Who are you to rate the _ability_ and _worth_ of a _child_?"

"I'm her mother," Hoana rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I know her. Changed her diapers, cleaned her shit, I know my child."

"You are _no_ mother," Toriel said coldly. "You are a sorry excuse for a human. You should be _ashamed_."

"Of _what_?" Hoana laughed, "I finally found use for that child! Made a _hundred grand_ in a _night_ , that child was only worth _fifty_!" Hoana chuckled again, strings of her dark hair falling into her face.

Toriel glanced at the woman, and gave her a slight nod. The woman took this signal, and left the room. "What are you doing?" Hoana said, a laugh on her tone. Toriel rose, brushing off her dress. "Do you really think you scare me?"

"I do not wish the scare you, Miss Pala," Toriel sighed, leaning over the table and took her hands with both of her own. Hoana tried to yank her hands away, but her grip was scarily tight, and uncomfortably warm. "In the month, or so that I have known Kiona, I have seen that she is one of the brightest, and most dedicated children I have ever had the luxury of meeting." Hoana stared at her hand as it was slowly growing hotter between the Monster's paws. It was as if her hand were taped to a burning stovetop. "She is highly intelligent in math and science, and her creative skills are exemplary."

"Ah...!" Hoana hissed, her skin beginning to burn.

"She is honestly quite funny, and such a wonderful friend to my own child," Toriel admitted, laughing and the heat increases quickly. Hoana's heart sped up, and her eyes began to dart around the room, looking for an escape, but finding none.

"And yes, her magical skills are extraordinary, the best, and most unique that I have ever seen." Hoana could smell her skin sizzling and tears pricked her eyes. She could smell her skin burning, and see the smoke seeping out of between their hands. "So, yes, I have only known Kiona for about a month, but in this time, I have grown to love her like my own child. So, I will ask you one more time."

Hoana looked at Toriel. Her golden eyes were fierce and her face stern. She looked like she could set Hoana ablaze with just a sideeye glare. " _Where is my child_?"

"You..." Hoana gasped through her pain. "You can't do this! This isn't right!"

"So is abusing a twelve-year old," Toriel said, almost pouting. "Life is not fair."

The two stared for about another minute until Hoana finally gave. "Fine! Fine! I'll talk!" She broke, and Toriel smiled, taking her hands away. Hoana looked down, expecting to see them cracked and burned from the heat, but they were perfectly fine.

Toriel left the room, and the female officer came in, a notepad and a pen in her hands.

"Thank you," The Director said, watching as the woman reluctantly spilt everything to the officer who was writing speedily, nodding, and asking questions.

"My pleasure," Toriel replied. "As long as Kiona comes home."

"Now," Wilson straightened his collar and turned to Sans, who had been sitting down. "Are you ready?" Sans looked up, and nodded, standing. "Like I told Mrs. Dreemurr, we'll all be outside the door. If anything goes wrong, don't fight, we'll be right there and we can - and will - handle it. Do you understand?"

"Yep," Sans said, his tone light but his eyes dangerous, and he stepped into the cell that held Zackiery Jackson.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Kiona eyes fluttered open, and she looked around, confused. She was on the ground and it was cold, she was cold too and she shivered. Kiona could smell smoke, the same smoke smell her mommy had, and the smell of that strange drink she drank too.

"Mommy?" Kiona called out, but it hurt to talk, or move, and she winced.

There was a sound of muttering, and then a man walked in front of her. "Yep, she's awake," He said, pushing the end to a strange black thing in her face. Kiona scooted away, and he laughed.

"Bring her in here," another man said. "I wanna see what she can do."

The man grabbed the back of her shirt and lifted her up. Kiona felt her head spin at the sharp movement and she suddenly vomited all over the ground. "Ah!" The man jumped, letting her go. Kiona hit the ground on her side, not being able to stop her fall because her hands were tied.

"What?" The voice asked, annoyed.

"The bitch puked all over my new shoes!" He growled, kicking Kiona and she gasped, tears picking her eyes as she began to cry.

"Just bring her over here!" The man snapped. He picked her up again, and quickly carried her to the voice of the other man.

He glared down at her, disgusted as she sobbed, "Hook her up," he ordered. A second later, the first man sat her in a strange chair. Kiona struggled, but the man hit her so she stopped.

Kiona let out a half sob as the man placed something tight on her head, then did the same on her arms, legs, and chest. "Start it?" The second man nodded and the first man pulled a lever. There was a lot of whirring and Kiona felt something buzz around her, but after five minutes, nothing happened.

"Wha'-?" The first man said, and tried again, but again, it did nothing.

"Is she even a magician!?" He growled.

"Yea! Yes she is! But she-"

"But what!?" He snarled, "I didn't give up a hundred grand for a magician that's not even magic!" He kicked the chair Kiona was in and she let out a scream, crying loudly.

"She did it before! With her mother!" The first man said frantically.

"Then make her do it again!" He demanded. "If she isn't churning out magic by tomorrow night, you're going to wake up with a bullet in your skull!" Then, the second man left.

Kiona was still crging, and after a minute of the man being silent, he finally snapped, "Shut the fuck up!" He yelled, hitting Kiona again, and she wailed, but went a little quieter. "Just, shut up!" He said again, shaking with anger.

Kiona stared at the man pacing back and forth, she wanted her Mommy! She wanted to go back home!

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Ten minutes had passed before Sans said anything to the man sitting across from him. "This has got to be a joke," The man scoffed, rolling his dark eyes.

"This isn't a joke," Sans replied, and the man tensed, as if he didn't believe Sans could speak.

"Oh, great, the spooky, scary skeleton speaks," Zackiery laughed, and Sans glared. "Well, you're in here, you caught me, congratulations. What next? Because, you're not very good at this interrogation thing."

"M'jus' tryin' to figure out," Sans began, sitting up straighter in his seat. "What kind of sick fuck _molests_ a twelve-year old?"

"That's what this is about?" He laughed.

"Yeah, it is," Sans glared. "What the hell is wrong wit' ya?"

"Please," he rolled his eyes, "Her mother's a druggie and I wanted some cheap sex," he shrugged. "Having sex with a drunk woman isn't as fun as a sober one." Zackiery gave a dangerous grin, and Sans stared at him, his left eyes glowing a bit.

"So that's it?" Sans demanded, "You wanted sex an' she was jus' there?"

"Yep," Zackiery leaned back in his seat - which didn't work well because his hands were still cuffed to the table. "And she wasn't all that bad. Kept crying and shit, but after a while, she broke."

Sans had enough, he subtly used his magic to make the man sit back up, and stare at him. "What are you-!?" He said, but Sans cut him off by holding up a hand.

"Ya know, she had nightmares about ya," Sans told him. "She wakes up screamin', won't let anyone touch 'er. She doesn't eat, won't drink anythin' wit' a bottled end." Sans paused for a second, "It's the little things that ya did to 'er that 'urts the most."

"She's being dramatic," He rolled his eyes, "She always was, that little bitch. When that kid came to Hoana door, trying to get her to bring her to her, Hoana turned them down. Neither of us wanted anything to do with her, but then we found out she was magic," he grinned.

"Who told ya that?" Sans demanded, eyes wide.

"Ah, I don't give out my-" Sans flicked his hand, and Zackiery's head came down on the metal table, hard. When he rose it again, his nose was bleeding.

" _Who told you_?" Sans said slowly, more angry.

"Some kid, goddamn it!" He groaned, trying to massage his nose with his hands. "Came to our door, a couple nights back, when the kid left, the newspaper had an address scribbled on it."

"What did the kid look like?"

"Short, brown hair, brown eyes, probably black, or Mexican. They wore a weird sweater, it was purple, or something, I forget." Sans stared at the man in shock. _Frisk_. _Frisk_ is the reason why Kiona was kidnapped.

"We drove by the address a few times, and saw her getting slapped around by another woman," Zackiery shrugged and Sans' eyes darkened again. Ms. Ophelia _hit_ Kiona. "We took her that night. Is there anything else you want, Mr. Skellington?" He sneered.

"Yeah, I hope ya go to hell," Sans said, then got up to leave the room.

"As long as you're there with me," Zackiery grinned. Sans flicked his hand again, and again, Zackiery's face came down on the metal table, probably breaking his nose. Zackiery was lucky it was _just_ his nose. If he and that man were alone, he'd break a lot more than just his nose.


	12. - twelve -

**Chapter Twelve:**

Kiona shivered, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her breathing was shallow and it hurt whenever she coughed, or at least tried. Heavy footsteps approached her corner and Kiona tried to move. "... M-Mm... Mom... Mommy?" Kiona murmured, raising her head to see who had came.

He sneered at her, grabbing her nappy sister locks and yanking her to her feet. Kiona cried out loudly, tears blurring her eyes and her feet kicking. "Shut up!" He hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her away. Kiona didn't move, allowing him to drag her through the strange building that smelled like dust and old clothes.

The man dropped her in front of a man that was tied up, in front of her. He looked at her and began to laugh, his entire body shaking from the action. "Do it," the man who dragged her to him spat.

"I... I... I wa... Want... I wa... Want m... Mom-" He hit her so hard that Kiona feel to the ground, her head slamming against the stone cold floor. She saw stars for a good minute before the man picked her up again, shaking her body.

"I said do it!" He roared.

"Pl... Ple-" he hit her again. And again. And again.

Kiona's head hung limply, her eyes barely open. "Do it. Now!" He demanded. Kiona turned, barely having the strength to crawl to the man. He stared at her, his blue eyes wide with concern and confusion.

Kiona touched his chest, drawing out his soul. His eyes widened and he jerked, tryinf to move, but he couldn't. Slowly, the colour began to drain from his soul leaving it an empty, lifeless grey. Meanwhile, a little bit of energy filled her, and she didn't feel so sick anymore. He stared at her, his eyes blank and he blinked slowly.

The man dragged her away, going to the big chair. Kiona didn't like this chair. She tried to pull away, "M-Mommy!" She croaked, "Mommy help! Mo-Mommy!" He tied her down, and then turned on the machine. Kiona screamed loudly as she felt her life drain out of her again, and she felt sick again.

The man dragged her limp body out of the chair and back to her corner. Kiona shivered and slowly began to cry. She didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to go home.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

"Sir, we are doing everything in our power to find Kiona," Director Wilson said. He was sitting in his seat, his arms folded. "However, due to it being out of our jurisdiction, since she was supposedly taken into the city over, there is not much we can do besides provide consult to their officers."

"That's not findin' her," Sans growled. He was sitting down, at the request - at subtly sounded like an order - from Director Wilson. His leg was bouncing and his hands clutched his knees. "It's been _two_ days."

"And no new evidence has decided to show," Director Wilson sighed, "It is also not terrible to assume that-"

"Kiona _isn't_ dead," Sans snarled. "She's out there and ya and ya people aren't doing shit about it!"

"Sans, _please_ , stay calm," Director Wilson instructed. "I understand you are hurting, however arguing here about it isn't-" the door opened and a young police officer entered, slightly dishelved.

"Officer Marcus, you know that-"

"Sir, I-I got another report about the victims that come in-!"

"I'm sure you do, Officer Marcus, however, I am in the middle of a important meeting, therefore, whatever you have can wait."

"But-"

"Outside. Now." Officer Marcus let out a small sigh, closing the door behind him.

"I apologize about that. As I was saying-"

"What was that about?" Sans asked, curious.

The Director rose an eyebrow, "That is a different investigation, one that we are partnered with with the neighboring city."

"What's goin' on?"

The Director sighed, "Several men have been found downtown with signs of amnesia and a strange illness that looks like it could show signs of emotional detachment. It's a strange case, but completely separate from Kiona's-"

"Have any of them been checked out by a monster?" Sans asked.

"Why do you ask?"

Sans shrugged, "Emotional detachment is sometimes a sympton of someone losing their soul. We saw it once or twice while Underground. S'not an exact science, but-"

"I apologize, but I don't see what this has to do with finding Kiona. In fact, if that is all you have to say, then I am going to have to ask you to politely leave, sir."

"Kiona could _use_ magic," Sans explained. "It was different than what was usually expressed in child magicians. What m'sayin' is, is that if these men had their souls taken, maybe Kiona could have been apart of it."

"There's no policy on allowing a monster to examine a human," Director Wilson frowned.

"Then this can set the precedent," Sans said, crossing his arms. Director Wilson inhaled, rubbing his face.

"If I let you do this, you can't go telling this to all the other civilians," Director Wilson said. "This includes other monsters."

"Got it."

"Strictly for case purposes," he said again, more to convince himself. Sans nodded wholesomely, and Director Wilson stood. "Follow me."

 **~•~•~•~**

"Hello sir," Sans spoke watching the man across from him. He was handcuffed to a table, like Zackiery had been, but there was really no reason for him to be. He was harmless, for the most part. His eyes we're dull and his face void of emotions. Sans looked at the reflexive glass then at the man. "M'just going to... Examine ya soul. It'll only take a moment - don't worry..."

The man made no noise, so Sans sighed and placed a hand on his chest, drawing out his soul.

Sans inhaled, staring at soul. The soul sank in his hands, not bobbing and full of life, like souls usually are, like they're supposed to be. It was faintly outlined in green, but everything else was see through. Just as Kiona's soul was. Completely see through, as if not even _there_.

"He's seen her," Sans spoke to the microphone in the room, gently putting the soul back in her chest. "He has to know something. If we can get the... The energy back to him, he could tell us something!"

The Director stepped in. "What are you proposing?"

"It... It might not work, but maybe-"

"Honestly, I'm willing to work with a maybe in order to find this girl," Director Wilson admitted. "What is it?"

"I'll use my magic, transfer some directly to him. It might make him talk, at least a little. If we can get him to be a little responsive, we can ask him about Kiona."

"Sounds like a plan."

 **~•~•~•** ~

The soul began to pulse weakly and the man groaned, "Mr. Fletcher?" Director Wilson said as the man slowly looked up. Sans breathed, concentrating on keeping the flow of magic steady.

"Wh... Where a-am I?" He mumbled.

"The station. I need you to tell us what happened to you." Morgan Fletcher turned, staring aimlessly at the wall. "Mr. Fletcher!" He turned back, almost shocked to see the man sitting in front of him. His mind was still dazed.

"Where am I?" He muttered, eyes half-lidded.

"Did you see a girl that looked like this, Mr. Fletcher?" Martin asked, sliding across a photograph.

"A girl. A girl... Girl..." He repeated, staring down at the picture. "Yes... Girl... She, girl... In the warehouse. The warehouse. Smelt like... Clothes... I shouldn't... Have made him mad. I shouldn't have... I..."

"A warehouse, Mr. Fletcher?" The Director asked.

"Yes... She... She's the one that did this... That bitch..." Sans inhaled, anger fueling him at the insult and his magic reacted. The man began to tilt forward, but the Director reached across the table and caught him, sending a glance at Sans.

"Sorry," Sans murmured, evening out the magic.

"Mr. Fletcher? Mr. Fletcher!" He said, slapping the man's cheek gently to wake him.

Morgan groaned, "I need a drink..." He coughed.

"You'll get one as soon as as can find this girl," Director Wilson promised. "You said a warehouse. Do you remember where?"

"I... There was a fight. This guy, stupid guy... Woke up tied to a chair..."

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Mmm... Big... White... Tats like, everywhere..." He gasped, his head looking to the side. Then Sans fell to his knees, struggling to breath.

"Sans!" The Director came to him, helping him up.

"M'fine. M'fine," Sans said, shrugging his hand off, trying to stand. "I-I can finish."

"You can't," Martin said, searching his face. "I'm sending you home."

"No! I have to find Kiona - I have to find her!"

"Sans," The Director's voice was stern, "You've done enough - more than enough, actually. I appreciate your help, but I believe we can take it from her."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I think my team can find her. He said a warehouse that smelled like old clothes. I think there is one in the other city. It used to be a coat shipping factory. I can get a warrant to search it."

Sans clenched his jaw, but nodded stiffly, swaying as he stood. "We're going to find her, Sans," Martin assured, "Don't worry."

~•~•~•~

Kiona was tired and hot. She wanted her mommy. She wanted to sleep. She shivered, a thin trail of vomit trailing from the side of her mouth. She was... Hungry too. "Mommy..." She croaked, her dry throat making her cough after speaking the words. "Mommy... M... Hungry... Mommy... Mom..."

"Shut up!" Someone seethed and she didn't move. .

"Mm... Mo... Mom... Mommy..." Kiona wailed. "Mom... Hungry... M... M... Hot... Mommy..."

"I said shut up!" The man stomped over, his boot slamming on Kiona's crushing it. Kiona let out a high wail in pain, trembling and turning away. "Be quiet! I don't wanna hear another word out of you!"

"Mom... Mom... Mo-Mom... Mee... Mom..." Kiona said, over and over again.

Someone ran in, "Grab your shit! Police are here!" The man began scrambling around immediately, trying to grab money, a gun, and other personal items.

Kiona tried to crawl away, hiding in a dark corner, shivering. She heard heavy footsteps and shouting. Kiona covered her ears.

"Police! Get down now!"

"Show me your hands! Get on the ground!"

"Stop resisting!"

"Put away the gun!"

"We have you surrounded!"

Loud popping noises echoed through the old building and Kiona whimpered, shaking. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home! Sobs choked her throat, and she tried to make herself as small as possible.

Vomit lurched in her stomach and she turned, hurling all over the floor. "Clear!" Someone shouted. They were getting nearer. They were getting closer. They were going to kill her.

"Clear!"

Footsteps came near her, and someone began to run. "I have her!" He shouted. He sounded like Zackiery. Zackiery was going to take her again.

Kiona screamed. She struggled as hard as she could When the man tried to pick her up. "No! No! No! Stop! No! Stop! Please! No!" She wailed, her breathing catching in her chest. She couldnt breathe. She couldn't breathe.

"Kiona, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," the man said calmly. "I need you to calm down. We're going to take you home."

"Please!" She croaked, her breathing come out fast, leaving her light headed and tired. "No no no no no! No! Please!" Her stomach twisted again and she turned to the ground, spilling everything out.

"She's vomiting blood. She needs to go to the hospital!" The man shouted. "Can I get a female officer over here?!"

Someone came over, kneeling beside Kiona. She moved, her hand sinking into the puddle of vomit. "Hey, Kiona, I'm going to help you, alright?"

Kiona turned, tears filling her eyes, "M... Mo... Mommy?" She wheezed, her throat burning. "Mommy...?"

"I..." She paused for a moment. "Yes, Kiona. I'm here. I need you to come with me, alright?"

Kiona turned to her, leaning against the woman. She picked her up, keeping her head still as she ran. Kiona shook in the woman's arms. "M... So hot..."

"I understand, it's going to be alright," she said, laying Kiona down and then moved away. She was leaving her. Several hands began to roam over her body, but Kiona sat up.

"Mommy! Mommy! Please! Don't leave me! Mommy! Mommy!" She screamed, reaching for the woman. Then, someone pushed her forward, and she was in the big car with Kiona.

"It's okay, I'm here. It's okay," she assured, taking her hand. "It's okay."

Someone stuck something sharp in her arm, Kiona began to cough, her throat choking her.

"Get an oxygen mask! The dust exposure could've gotten in her lungs!" Someone strapped something on her head.

"It's okay, Kiona. Just breathe. It's going to be okay," her mother assured her.

Kiona's eyes began to close, "Mommm..." She murmured, her eyes rolling back. Kiona was sleepy. She wanted to sleep...

"Wake up! Don't go to sleep yet, you have to stay awake, Kiona!" Mommy said, shaking her shoulders gently.

"M... M-Mommy... I'm hot... Mommy..."

"I know, I need you to stay awake for me. Okay?"

"Mommy..." Tears filled her eyes, but her Mommy wiped them away.

"It's okay," her mother said, her voice soft and soothing. "You're going to be okay. It's okay. You're going to be okay..." Kiona nodded, listening quietly as she fell asleep.


	13. - thirteen -

**Chapter Thirteen:**

"Did you find her?" Frisk demanded as they ran into the hospital sitting room. Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne were there, and they all looked up when they saw them. Toriel and Asgore were right behind them, but Frisk was front and center. "Is it true!? Did you find her?!"

Sans glanced up. His dark eye sockets met Frisk's. He hadn't talked to them in weeks. Mainly because Frisk had been upset from Kiona's disappearance.

"The small, cold human is with the doctor now," Papyrus answered. Sans only stared, and Frisk began to feel slightly uneasy. "They say we may go in once she is feeling better. Right now, all she does is... Cry..."

"But, she's... She's okay?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah. She will be," Frisk nearly fainted at Undyne's answer. "Al is in there now, checking her magical vitals. They called her in, since magical science isn't really big with humans yet."

Frisk grinned, "When can we see her?"

"As soon as she is better, and after she's rested," Sans said, his voice heavy, but his eyes were still trained on Frisk. They watched him and swallowed. "Tori, do you mind if I talk to Frisk privately?"

"No, of course not," She replied. "We'll call you when she's ready." Sans nodded and then teleported both himself and Frisk from the hospital room.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Sans and Frisk ended up outside of the hospital in the parking lot. They were beside Papyrus' car and the lot was empty. It was cold and clouds blocked the moon that loomed in the sky.

Sans stared at them, so Frisk began talking. "Is something wrong? Is something going to happen with Kiona?"

"How do ya think the people who took Kiona found her?" Sans asked slowly.

Frisk blinked, surprised by the question. "I dunno. Maybe they drove by and saw her. I... I don't even know who took her. I-"

"Don' lie to me, kid," Sans growled. "Her mom an' 'er boyfriend took 'er. How do ya think they found 'er? How do ya think they even _knew_ she was magic!?"

"Sans, I-"

"Don' Sans me!" Sans snapped, eyes flaring with anger. "Kiona could have _died_ , Frisk! Ya told th' people who tortured 'er every night where she lived! What th' ' _ell_!?"

"I was trying to _help_!" Frisk defended. "She was devastated, she wanted her mother! I thought that if she knew about Kiona and what she really was, maybe-"

"Maybe wha'?!" Sans snapped. "'Cause, whatever ya thought would've happened, _didn't_! Ya the reason all this happened to Kiona! Why th' ' _ell_ would ya tell 'er mom!? What did ya think would happen? That she would jus' suddenly love 'er again!?"

"I wanted her to be _happy_!" Frisk cried, tears falling down their cheeks in frustration. "I wanted her to be _loved_ , Sans! She was so upset! She missed her mother and-and I wanted to _help_ her! I _never_ wanted this to happen! I never wanted her to get taken away! I didn't know! I just-" Frisk turned away, rubbing their face. The cold wind of late January bit at their skin.

"Well, I hope ya happy, Frisk," Sans told them, his voice scarily even. "Ya ruined 'er life." Then, Sans left.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Kiona hated this room. It was bright and noisy and she heard people and she didn't like it. Kiona groaned, everything on her hurt. She was tired, but her head was thrumming. Kiona didn't even try to move, it hurt too bad.

Someone heard her groans and came to her. "Hey, Kiona. It's good to see you awake." Kiona's eyes swam and tears leaked out the side of her face.

"Mmm..." She tried to say, but her throat burned and she was thirsty. "Mmm..."

"Shh," She said. Kiona tried to focus on her. She was... Tall and had dark hair. Kiona began to cry harder, it was her _mommy_. S

he missed her mommy. "Momm... Mommm... Myy... Momm..."

"Shh," her mother told her. She picked up a cup and sat Kiona up. She allowed her drink from the cup slowly. Kiona closed her eyes and immediately, she saw Zackiery.

Kiona choked and began to vomit the sloppy water in her bed. The woman, startled, set the cup down as Kiona coughed viciously. Kiona curled up and began to cry, her throat burning with every sob. "It's okay, it's okay," her mother assured her.

"Mm... Mmm..." Kiona began to tremble, absolutely terrifed. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be here! She heard a loud machine beeping rapidly and it only scared her more. Get her out. Get her out! Out! Out!

People ran into the room while Kiona screamed, thrashing on the bed. They surrounded her, holding down her arms. She could see Zackiery on top of her, pinning her to the floor as he hurt her over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and-

Something sharp pricked her arm and she felt something enter her body. She slowly began to stop shaking, to stop screaming, and just lied there, lifeless, helpless. She heard people talking around her, but Kiona didn't understand.

Everything was muddled and sounded as if she were heading under water. That's what happened, she was drowning underwater and everyone was so, so, far away. So far away. She was dying and they were talking. She was falling and they were laughing and having fun. Kiona didn't like that. Kiona wanted to stay there. She wanted her mommy. She wanted to go to her mommy!

 **~•~•~•~•~**

When Kiona woke up again, she saw someone she recognized. "S... Sans...?" She murmured, seeing the milky white skeleton in the chair beside her bed. The lights were dimmed and Kiona's head hurt a little less, but her chest still burned in pain if she tried to move.

Sans' eyesockets opened slowly as he turned to the girl who stared at him. He smiled, but it was a strange smile. It wasn't his usual smile that he gave her. Kiona didn't like this smile. "Kiona?"

"Sans," she croaked and he got up, coming to her.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. Kiona reached out and took his hand. There were tubes sticking out of her hand and she didn't even realize it was there. "How ya feelin'?"

Kiona didn't say anything. Softly, she pressed down on the pads of his fingers and hoarsely giggled when it turned blue. "Are ya thirsty?" Kiona nodded. "I'll get ya somethin' to drink." He moved to pull away, but Kiona began to cry, moaning. She didn't want him to go, she wanted Sans to stay.

"Hey, hey, s'okay," he coaxed, coming back to her side. "M'not goin' anywhere. I won't," he reached over and grabbed a small remote. He pressed down on a button and set it down again. "Do ya wanna watch some giraffes? Does that sound nice?"

"Gir... Gira... Giraffes..." Kiona whispered. Sans nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out phone and turning it on. He began to play his ' **Emergency Giraffes'** playlist and Kiona sat and watched.

A few minutes later, a woman slowly entered the room. Kiona looked up and froze, staring at the woman, but she smiled. "Hello, Kiona, how are you feeling?" She was tall and wore a pink outfit. She had blonde hair that was pulled out of her face and blue eyes.

"Mom... Mommy?" Kiona called, watching the woman. She went beside the bed and picked up a cup.

"I'm not your mom, sweetie," the woman smiled. She seemed to never stop smiling. Kiona didn't like it. "My name is Claudia. Here," she held out a cup for Kiona to take. Kiona stared at it, not moving. Sans reached for the cup and she handed it to him.

"Here, kiddo, drink some water," he told her, then brought it to her mouth. She opened and he poured a bit into her throat, a few drops spilling out the sides of her mouth.

Slowly, Kiona swallowed. Then, she took the cup from Sans and drank the rest. "M... More," she whispered, her voice not as hoarse as it was before. The nurse nodded, taking the cup and refilling it. Then, she gave it back to Kiona, which she drank quickly.

"Are you hungry, Kiona? Do you want some crackers?" Kiona barely nodded, and Claudia opened up a package of saltine crackers and handed it to her. Kiona swallowed, then slowly ate one before setting the rest aside. "Can you eat another one, Kiona?" She shook her head, trying not to vomit. "Okay, that's fine. Is it alright if I check a few things?" Kiona didn't reply, so Claudia turned to Sans.

"Yeah, go 'head," he said and Claudia began to work. The slowly checked the monitors surrounding Kiona's bed, writing it down in a clipboard. Then, she went to Kiona.

"Can I ask you a few questions, Kiona?" Kiona didn't say anything. "Okay, are you in pain right now?" Kiona was silent, but she nodded. "Is it alright if I touch you? Just for a moment?" Immediately, Kiona shook her head.

"No, no, no, no, no, no-" she said over and over again. Kiona didn't want to be touched, she didn't want to be touched. No more touching. No more.

"Okay, it's alright, I won't touch you," Claudia said, then looked at Sans. "Can he touch you?" Kiona was breathing heavily, but glanced at Sans, who was watching her. She nodded.

"Good," Claudia came around to where Sans was and gently took his hand. Using Sans' hand as a guide, Claudia gently our his hand on the side of her rib cage. "Tell me if this hurts." Gently, she pressed down. Sans tried not to watch, Kiona gasped, moving away. "Okay, that's, okay. Sorry," Claudia said, but moved to another part of her ribs. "How about here?" Kiona whimpered again, and Claudia stopped.

"Okay, thank you, Kiona. You were really strong," Claudia smiled at her, then looked at Sans. "Can I talk to you?"

Sans nodded, but as soon as he tried to move, Kiona started to cry. Sans sighed and shook his head, "Sorry..."

"That's alright. We'll talk when she's asleep. I think she's still hyped up on the drugs from earlier. She'll be back asleep in about twenty minutes or so." Sans nodded and turned back to Kiona, who was watching the giraffe video. She watched, transfixed as the long-necked creature at the leaves off of tall trees.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Just as the nurse said, Kiona was dead asleep ten minutes later. Her soft snore made Sans chuckle as he stood and pressed the nurse call button again. A few minutes later, Claudia rendered the room.

"Physically, she's healing very well." She told him. "Thanks to Doctor Alphys, she is faring well on a magically, well, to her standards at least. A few weeks in bed and taking some pain medications should bring her back to health in no time."

Sans watched her, "... But?" Claudia sighed, obviously not quite liking this part.

"According to our children's psychiatrist, mentally, she's a wreck. It' to take long time before she bounced back from this. And even then, she might not. She's suffered years of abuse and violence. She's in a delicate state, to say the least. She'll be scared and she needs to be around someone or something familiar."

"She doesn't live with us," Sans told her. "She lives in a foster home on the other side of town. We're going through the motions of trying to adopt her, but it'll be a few more weeks before it's settled."

"Alright," The nurse nodded, "Well, until then, keep her safe. And, personally, I suggest getting a therapist. She... Has repressed so much that it's going to start spilling over sooner or later. She's going to need help, and I know you're probably doing your best, but this might be out of your hands. She needs a _professional_."

Sans nodded stiffly. It would cost him quite a bit to get her regular visits with a psychiatrist, but Claudia was right - this was what Kiona needed.

"Thank you," Sans nodded and Claudia smiled.

"Anytime." Then, she turned to leave down the hall.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

Kiona sat silently in bed. It hurt to breathe, a little, but Kiona tried not to worry. Maybe, if she didn't cry, they'd bring her mommy here! She really wanted to see her mommy. She missed her.

The door opened and Kiona jumped. Slowly, Frisk came through, followed by Toriel and Asgore. "Hey, Kiona," Frisk said tentatively. They were holding something behind their back that Kiona really couldn't see.

"He-Hello, Frisk friend," Kiona said slowly.

"I brought you something," they said. Then they showed her Debbie the Giraffe. Kiona's eyes lit up and she reached out, but then winced when she went to far.

Frisk handed her Debbie and Kiona hugged the playtoy to her chest, content. "Hello, Kiona," Toriel said gently, coming beside her bed. Kiona looked up, her smile still lingering. "I am glad your recovery is coming along well. That is good."

"You missed so much in school, Kiona," Frisk said, then they began to ramble about one of their teachers who was pregnant. They also talked about all the schoolwork Kiona was missing, but Frisk promised to help them with it so it wouldn't be so bad. Also, this girl in their class, Denah, came forward and told Sans that she knew what had happened with her. Now, she had to talk to the police.

Kiona just nodded and hugged Debbie. Honestly, she didn't quite know what she was talking about so she was just left nodding.

"Slow down, my child," Toriel told Frisk, laughing. Frisk rubbed their neck, a bit embarrassed.

Asgore, who had been standing silently, simply watching and enjoying their company, stood. "Maybe we should let to two stay here by themselves, Tori," Asgore told her, and winked at Frisk. "I'm sure there's a lot two want to talk about, hmm?"

Frisk nodded, and turned to their mother, who sighed. "Yes, I suppose we can," Toriel nodded and turned to leave with her husband.

Kiona sat silently as Frisk came over to them. "Kiona...?"

"Frisk? Frisk is okay?" Kiona asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just," they sighed and sat at the end of Kiona's bed. "Remeber, at school, you asked me to bring you your mom?" Kiona nodded, hugging Debbie.

"You brought mommy?!" She asked, excited.

"No, I..." They sighed, not looking at Kiona. She frowned, a bit scared.

"Frisk hurt?" Kiona asked them.

"No, no. I'm not hurt," They frowned. "I..." They closed their eyes and just blurted it out. "I'm the reason why your mom took you!"

Kiona stared at them, confused, and Frisk looked frantic. "I'm the reason why you're in the hospital, Kiona! It's my fault! I'm sorry! I just wanted to make you happy and I hurt you!"

"Frisk... Frisk brought Kiona mommy?" Kiona asked and Frisk looked at her, tears in their eyes.

"No. I didn't, Kiona," Frisk sighed. "I-"

"When Kiona was with Mommy. Frisk brought mommy?" Frisk blinked, a bit confused. "Kiona happy. Kiona see Mommy."

Frisk watched Kiona as she snuggled with her giraffe. "You... You're not upset?" Kiona didn't say anything. "Kiona, they could have killed you!"

"Mommy won't hurt me. I love mommy," Kiona smiled. "I love Frisk-friend, too. Thank you."

Frisk stared at Kiona, guilt clenching their chest. "You... You don't mean that," they said, lip quivering. "She hurt you because of me - you're in here because of me!"

Kiona watched Frisk and frowned, "No crying," she told Frisk. Then, slowly, she sat up and wrapped her arms around Frisk. "No crying..." She murmured. Frisk could hardly hear her though as they sobbed into her shoulder.


	14. - fourteen -

**Chapter Fourteen:**

Kiona say silently in bed, watching the television across from her room play on the screen in front of her. Sans sat beside her and watched the silly television show as well.

There was a knock at the door and Kiona tensed, but the woman came in after Sans said, "It's okay, come in!"

The woman smiled at Kiona who did not look happy. She had never seen this woman before. Who was this?

Almost like Mrs. Zavaleta, she wore a very dark suit and a knee length black skirt. Underneath, was white which sharply contrasted her extremely dark skin.

Kiona shied away immediately, but Sans gently squeezed her hand. "It's okay. She just wants to talk. Can you do that?" Kiona didn't reply. She looked back at the television and relaxed a little. Sans nodded the woman over and she came to the opposite side of Kiona, pulling up a chair.

"Hello, Kiona. I'm Ms. Gladiolus. Would you mind answering a few questions?"

Kiona gave a small nod, but shifted away from her, pulling her knees closer to her. "Alright," she pulled out a notebook and a pen.

"We watch giraffe?" Kiona asked, but Ms. Gladiolus shook her head.

"No, not right now," she told her. "How fox your mother take you Kiona? Do you remember?"

"Kiona hear Mommy. Kiona went outside to Mommy," She looked at the woman. "Is mommy here?"

"No, dear. When your mother took you, did her boyfriend Zackiery do anything to you?" Kiona's eyes widened and panic spread on her face.

"No! No!" She began to say, her heart rate monitor shooting up. They had the sound cut off hours ago.

"He's not here," the woman assured. "He's not here. What did he do, Kiona?"

"He..." Tears formed in her eyes. Kiona held her throat and choked. "He-He-" she stuck a finger down her throat and made a choking noise. "I don't-stop-he-I-"

"Alright, alright," Ms. Gladiolus said. "After... That, what did your mother do?" Kiona had curled away from the woman and did not answer her. Her body was trembling and she was staring at nothing.

"Hey, kiddo," Sans said gently beside her, rubbing her arm. Kiona looked at him, tears in her eyes. "S'gonna be alright. He isn't here anymore. He can't hurt you anymore." Kiona sniffed, her lip trembling.

"Did you mother attempt to sell you, Kiona?" The woman asked.

"I love mommy!" Kiona said immediately. "I... Mommy, I..."

"Did she ask you to show the men your magic?" Kiona nodded.

"Mommy ask Kiona, and Kiona did. Then, Kiona hear a loud bang."

"Yes, one of the accomplices were shot and killed. "Then, what happened?"

Kiona made a whirring sound and the woman nodded. "Then, the police arrived." .

"I head hit and quiet." Kiona frowned, but the woman urged her on.

"After that?" Kiona shook her head, her heart racing again as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Kiona."

"That's enough," Sans said. Kiona obviously wasn't going to give anymore information.

"We still need her account in the warehouse," the woman urged.

"I said, no," Sans said again, annoyed now. "She can't take it." Kiona was beginning to cry again.

"Cold," she whispered. "Chair. Hurt." At the thought of the chair sucking the every life out of her, Kiona nearly screamed. She began to sob, hugging herself, her teeth biting down on her lip so hard that it broke skin and began to bleed.

"Kiona! Kiona, shh, s'okay. S'okay," Sans said, hugging her to him and rubbing circles on her back. Kiona was obviously struggling to breathe. Sans shot the woman a glare, but she simply smiled back at bim.

"I got everything I needed," she promised as she stood to leave. "Thank you, Kiona." The sobbing girl didn't reply as the woman left the hospital room.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

"She just left?" Toriel asked later that afternoon. Sans nodded, his arms crowded tight over his chest.

"She came in, asked too many questions for 'er to handle, an' then left 'er like tha'," Sans said, eye sockets dark as he recalled the event earlier that day. "I got 'er to sleep, eventually, but it everyone is gonna act like that towards 'er, then I don't want anyone else 'ere askin' questions."

"I agree," Toriel said. "But, in any case, I must hurry to heal her. Alphys said that with a few more days of rest, magic, and some butterscotch-cinnamon pie, she should be fine. Or, at least well enough to attend school again."

"Are you going to send her back to that public school?" Sans asked, shocked.

"No, not at all," Toriel shook her head. "The faculty is absolutely awful and the teachers don't care for children like Kiona. They don't even have a system for Special Needs children, and when I asked the principal, he blamed it on the lack of funding! The liars ― did you see their gym―!"

"I understand, Tori," Sans said, cutting the enraged woman off short before the entire hospital turned into a blaze from her rage. He could already feel the temperature rising from just standing next to her. "But, where is she gonna to go to school if she's not goin' to the public school?"

"She will be with me," Toriel explained. "I'll work it out with her social worker, as well as getting her into a better care home. The doctors said that she needed something familiar, right? If she is with me, we can work on her magic, and she can be around people she actually knows instead of being able to see you once a week for an hour."

Sans nodded, this was a much better plan. And, things were almost ready in terms of the getting his apartment inspected for Kiona. "Thank you, Tori," Sans said sincerely and Toriel smiled, glancing over at the sleeping child.

"We all care for her, Sans," Toriel said softly. "We all love her. If anything else were to happen to her. . ." Toriel didn't finish her sentence, but she didn't have to. Sans understood plenty. "Anyways, I must be on my way ― I have to pick up Frisk from school soon, and they want to come here and see Kiona, if she is awake." Sans' eye sockets darkened, and Toriel sighed, "None of us are. . . _proud_ of Frisk's decision, no matter what they had in mind, but to keep them away from Kiona would be completely out of hand. Familiarity, remember? And, they are best friends. It would be torture to keep them apart."

"I don't believe she forgave them," Sans muttered, his bony arms crossed.

"That is between those two," Toriel said, gathering her belongings. She stepped over to Kiona and planted a warm kiss on her forehead. Kiona twitched in her sleep, and exhaled, but a small smile appeared on her lips. It was soft, and nearly invisible, but it was there.

Toriel smiled to herself. Kiona was a strong girl with a kind heart, and, although it will be hard, she will get better. With this in mind, she headed for the door and gave one last wave to Sans before leaving.

 **~•~•~•~•~**

"Do you wanna draw giraffes?" Frisk asked as Kiona played with Debbie, making the stuffed animal dance and talk. Kiona turned to Frisk and rose an eyebrow, confused. Frisk bent down and dug through their bookbag. "I brought your journal. They, uh, found it in your mom's house ― the police. They let Mom have it, though, so I thought you might want it back?"

"My. . . _giraffes_?" Kiona whispered as Frisk released the raggedy journal from their backpack and handed it to Kiona. Kiona took it gently and opened the cover. The extremely detailed sketch of the long necked giraffes stared back at her with beady brown eyes ― Kiona used the school's colour pencils to colour it.

Kiona giggled, tracing a finger over the pictures and flipped through more of the pictures and laughed, " _Debbie_!" She announced, pointing to one of the other picture, then she showed Frisk slightly different giraffes. "Tracy. Ericka. Jessy." She stopped at one picture, near the end of the book, staring at it for a second, all traces of happiness leaving her face.

"Kiona?" Frisk asked, staring at the picture it took them a second to realize what it was. Frisk had fallen asleep in one of their classes and Kiona had _sketched_ them. Their eyes were closed, and their mouth partially opened, drool slipping past their lips. Their hair hanging off their arm, which was tucked under their head.

"Frisk, friend," Kiona whispered, and Frisk tore her eyes from the picture to Kiona. Her eyes were watering, but she was smiling. She was happy. Kiona flipped the page, and it was her mother, and she was hugging a man Frisk has never seen before.

" _Daddy_ ," Kiona whispered, touching the picture just as the door opened and a nurse stepped in.

"Hi, Kiona! Hey, Frisk!" The nurse, Claudia, greeted, always perky and smiling.

"Hello Ms. Claudia," Frisk greeted, but it was almost absentmindedly. Did Kiona say ' _Daddy_ '? That was her _father_?! He was tall, very dark skinned and skinny, but according the picture, he had dark eyes and his hair was dreadlocked like Kiona. His hair was pulled back into a small bun, and was very long.

"I need to check her vitals, kiddo," Claudia reminded Frisk and they jumped.

"Right! Sorry!" Frisk apologized, jumping back.

Claudia shook her head and smiled, "No prob, bob." She pulled out device to check her blood pressure.

As Claudia worked and scratched down writing, Frisk's head was spinning with questions. Kiona said he was dead, but she still recognized him ― and her mother looked a lot happier in that picture than she had the last two times Frisk met her. Exactly how long has he been dead?

Kiona was squirming, and pouted as Claudia checked her vitals, using the stethoscope to check her lungs. "Kiona, can I see your journal?" Frisk asked.

Kiona nodded, handing her the journal and said, "Sharing is caring." Frisk laughed, and flipped through the journal, finding the sketch again. They took out their phone and snapped a photo of the picture.

" _Please don't tell me you're going to try to find her dad_ ," Chara hissed in Frisk's ear. Frisk calmly handed the book back, thanking Kiona.

"I'm _not_ ," Frisk huffed under their breath. "He's dead."

" _But, you're still going to look for him, though_?" Frisk didn't deny this and Chara laughed out loud. " _Are you_ serious!? _Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to contact one of her parents? Her mother's a psychopath! Do you really think her dad's any better_?"

Frisk rolled their eyes, ignoring Chara, which struck a nerve with them. They huffed, and floated near Kiona who was staring at Frisk curiously. " _I mean,_ look!" Chara motioned to Kiona and her hospital bed. Kiona turned and looked up at the ceiling ― at Chara. " _Last time you tried to help, she ended up in a hospital! What next_? Dead!? _I mean, usually I want you to run towards danger, but this is just getting out of hand! Isn't she your_ friend?"

"Frisk _is_ friend," Kiona said and Chara looked down at them. It took them a second to realize that Kiona was staring right at Chara. She giggled, "Red floaty. . ."

" _What the_ ―!?"

"' _Red floaty_ '?" Claudia chuckled, glancing over from the heart rate monitor to grin at Kiona. "What does _that_ mean?"

" _She can_ see _me_!?" Chara stared at her, coming down to her level. " _I―I. . . how_!?" Chara turned to Frisk, but they looked just as shocked.

Kiona reached for Chara's hand, but it passed through. Chara shuddered, stepping away. They hated phasing through people. She frowned, and hovered her hand over Chara's chest.

A small, see-through heart began to slowly fill with colour. Frisk stared in horror as Chara astral, see-through form began to grow slightly solid. Frisk jumped from where they stood, and moved Kiona's hand away. Chara's soul vanished and they began to fade back to into non-existence.

Chara was staring at their hands as it slowly began to be see-through again. Kiona fell back on the bed, breathing heavily. " _She. . . she was making me_ human," Chara didn't seem to be able to believe their own words, " _She was making me_ real." Chara turned to Kiona, who was catching her breath, her eyes closed. " _Do it again_!"

" _No_!" Frisk snapped, far too loudly. Claudia turned to them, eyebrows furrowed.

"No, _what_?" She asked curiously.

"I-I," Frisk glanced around for a answer. "I almost dropped the remote, sorry," Frisk said, rubbing the back of their neck. Claudia gave her a strange look but shook her head.

"Okay, well, I'll be back later with some snacks, alright?" Frisk nodded, and Claudia began to leave. "I'll see you two later, bye," Claudia waved and took her clipboard and equipment with her.

Frisk waited until the woman closed the door before beginning to start talking again. "She hasn't healed yet."

" _She was making me human_!" Chara snapped.

"You aren't using her like that," Frisk said firmly. Chara was growing redder with anger, black goo filling her mouth.

" _She_ ―"

"I know!" Frisk snapped, and running a hand through their hair. "We'll talk to Sans."

" _That trash bag_!?" Chara scoffed, " _You're going to tell him that you've been in contact with me for a year and haven't told anyone?"_ Frisk inhaled and began to pace. Kiona watched her, confused and worried.

"Frisk, friend?" Kiona asked carefully.

"Okay, first things first," Frisk muttered and turned to Kiona. "Kiona, this is Chara Dreemurr. We're. . . _siblings_. Kind of." Kiona smiled at Chara.

"Debbie says hi," Kiona grinned. Chara didn't say anything, but they didn't need to. Kiona grabbed her journal and flipped to a fresh page. She grabbed a pencil and rubbed it for a few second before gently beginning to draw.

" _What are we going to do_?" Chara asked carefully, watching the girl with a lot more interest.

"... We'll talk to Sans," Frisk decided after a moment's hesitation. Chara opened their mouth to protest, but Frisk stopped them. "She wasn't able to see you any other time you were here."

" _I've only seen her twice. When Sans and Papyrus brought her to Mom's house, and now. She didn't even blink at me. How is this even. . . she. . .?"_ Chara said, crossing their arms. The shock was still setting in from someone else being able to actually see them.

Frisk sighed, "I don't know. We have to talk to Sans, alright? He'll know what to do."

" _And, are you going to tell him that you're looking for her dad too, or is that going to stay on the_ 'downlow'?"

"I'll figure it out later, all right!" Frisk snapped loud enough to make Kiona glance up at them frowning. "... Sorry, Kiona," they apologized, rubbing their temple. "I have homework to do. We can do this later."

" _Right, yeah, because procrastination always makes everything better, doesn't it_?" Frisk ignored them and continued their work. Chara noticed and narrowed their eyes. " _Yeah, right, of course. Ignore the floating ghost that's actually trying to help you, for once, whatever._ " Then they disappeared.


	15. - fifteen -

****Chapter Fifteen:****

It was nearly a week before Kiona was released. She despite still being a bit drowsy from all the medicine she was given, Kiona was excited. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and holding Debbie close to get chest. Sans was at her side, holding her small hand in his bony one.

"Make sure she takes this every twelve hours," the doctor prescribed, handing Sans a pill bottle. "And, if the pain gets really bad, some kid's Motrin or Tylenol will do the trick."

"What does that do?" Sans asked, glancing over the label.

"It'll make her a bit drowsy, but it should keep her stabilized. She can take it with whatever it good for her." Sans nodded again, grateful. It was always a pain to get the girl to eat, for obvious reasons.

Nurse Claudia was standing beside Kiona and she smiled warmly. "Are you all ready, Kiona?"

Kiona nodded eagerly, "Kiona has Debbie and drawing book!" She said, grinning.

Claudia smiled, bending down to her level so they would see eye-to-eye. "Now, don't do anything too dangerous. And if anything feels like it hurts, just tell Mr. Sans here, alright?" Kiona nodded again and Claudia gave a small, sad smile. She had really taken a liking to the girl and was sad to see her go.

"Okay, kiddo, c'mon," Sans said gently, but Kiona was watching Claudia, her eyebrows knit together. Then, she let go of Debbie and her journal and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck.

Claudia froze, shocked, and both the doctor and Sans watched as the girl delicately hugged the woman. "I'm gonna miss you, Kiona," Claudia said, giving her a gentle squeeze, not wanting to hurt her already delicate physique.

Kiona finally let go and Sans picked up her journal and Debbie, handing it to the girl. "C'mon, kiddo," he said and Kiona waved as they walked out the door.

"Bye-bye!" She said cheerfully and the nurses and doctors waved back.

Sans led her to Papyrus' car. They were going back to his apartment. After having a long talk with Mrs. Teller about how she treated Kiona, and even getting a few of the other girls as witnesses, the police and an impromptu judge allowed Sans and Papyrus to take her back to their home for the time being.

Kiona, along with the rest of the children, will be relocated eventually to other foster homes and Mrs. Teller's license as a foster parent was revoked. The woman was furious, to say the least. She was red in the face, screaming, as she was put into a police car, facing the charges of child abuse and neglect.

Papyrus' face lit up when Sans and Kiona approached the shiny red convertible. Papyrus came out of the car and bent down to give Kiona a hug, which she did. Papyrus knew to be gentle with her, especially since she had just came from the hospital.

"Small, cold human! I am glad to see you recovered!" He proclaimed, and Kiona smiled.

"Kiona happy! Debbie is soft!" Kiona turned to Sans, "Is mommy coming?"

Sans shook his head softly, "Sorry, Kiona. Mommy isn't coming today." In fact, 'mommy' was never coming again.

The evidence against her and her boyfriend was stacked _staggeringly_ high. The police had assured Sans that it was more than enough to get the two of them sent away for life - _without_ parole.

Her arrest was very popular on social media, or at least that's what Alphys told them. It was the first time in history that the custody of a human child had been given to a monster, with the parent present. Frisk, seemed to not be considered the first, considering that they were an orphan ― or so they claimed. They had managed to not get Kiona's name not displayed on any news outlets, but they couldn't help Hoana's name getting dragged through the dirt.

As soon as the news went out, Kiona had been getting support from all over the country. Her hospital bills were paid by an unknown source, Monster Support Groups praised Toriel and Asgore ― since Sans and Papyrus' names were also hidden from the media so not to gain attention to Kiona. Kiona was sent many presents and ' _get well_ ' gifts, along with grants to help her schooling in the future and promises from the mayor himself that she would be placed in a more accommodating environment.

However, all this information was most likely too much for Kiona at the moment. It would be better - and _safer_ \- to discuss what happened Hoana and Zackiery when she was mentally and physically stable. Although Sans would probably never allow it, Kiona _could_ go see her mother, if she wanted to.

Sans, Papyrus, and Kiona got in the small car. Sans sat in the back seat in order to keep the girl company. Papyrus put the hood of the car up - the clouds looked ready to rain.

The ride back to the apartment was smooth. Kiona was practically half asleep by the time they had arrived. Sans gently helped the girl out of the car after Papyrus parked. The walk up the steps were awfully slow, Kiona winced with every movement until Sans just decided to pick the girl up. She didn't complain and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

They made it to the top of the steps and Papyrus fished in his pocket, pulling out his key to open the door, but stopped when he noticed that it was already opened. In fact, the lock was entirely broken, and lying on the ground in front of the door.

" _Uh_. . ." Papyrus said softly, taking a step back. He looked at his brother, confused, and Sans glanced around him, noticing the broken door. He stiffened with Kiona in his arms. Kiona, who had began to doze off again, stirred. The medicine deciding to finally take effect.

"Hey, kiddo," Sans said quietly, putting Kiona on the ground. She stumbled on her feet held unto Sans's arm to steady herself. "Can you stay with Paps for a minute?"

Kiona looked at him and rubbed her brown eyes, yawning. "Kiona go to sleep?" She asked, a frown tugging at her lips.

Sans tried not to wince, she wasn't loud, but in this case, he didn't want to make any unnecessary noise. He didn't want whatever was in their apartment to be drawn out. "In a minute, kiddo, I promise," Sans said, smiling gently at her, then looked back up at his brother. Papyrus was not as easily settled and looked very concerned. "Stay with her," He said, seriously.

Papyrus gave a small nod, "Be careful." Sans nodded once and waved the duo away. Papyrus led Kiona back down the steps cautiously, his eyes staying on his brother the entire time.

Sans approached the door, opening it as quietly as possible. The door squeaked on its hinges, and he winced, listening for any kind of movement. Their apartment wasn't that big, there weren't many hiding places. He flicked his hand, using magic to turn on the switch across the room.

Light illuminated the room immediately, and Sans stiffened, staring at their couch. A man sat there, his arms were draped over the sides, and eyes closed, looking at the ceiling. When Sans had ― suddenly ― turned on the lights, the man peeked an eye open and looked at Sans. "Oh. You're back ― finally." He said, and grunted, sitting up. He had a scruffy beard, and dark eyes with bags beneath them.

He wore a black sweatshirt and dark, baggy jeans. He had scuffy shoes, that looked like it had a hole in the side on the left side facing him. He had long hair ― really long hair. It was stringy and mangled and looked like he had never cut it in his life. On the side of his neck, Sans saw worn, old tattoos on the side of his neck. They looked. . . tribal, almost, all spirals and triangles and intriguing pictures, but they looked old, and almost ancient looking. It was almost as if he had gotten them centuries ago.

"Sorry, bud," Sans said stiffly as the man slouched on the couch and moved strands of his hair back behind his ear. "Looks like ya got th' wrong house."

"No, no, I _think_ I got the right house, let me check, one second. . ." He peered closely at Sans, and then he snapped.

Sans felt a yank at his chest and he stumbled, forward with a grunt, his eyes widening and is eye sockets going dark. Before him, was his upside-down, white monster's soul.

"Hm. . . yes. . . she _was_ here. . ." The man said, and Sans flinched back, raising a bony hand surrounded by blue magic.

The man was dragged forward, flying towards him and hitting the wall beside him. He brought a hand forward and jagged bones pierced from the wallpaper, going through his baggy clothes, slicing his skin and keeping him to the wall. Sans moved his head to the side so he could hear the man speak.

"Wha' d'ya _want_?" Sans growled, his single yellow-blue eye inflamed and lighting up the inside of his skull. "Why are ya ' _ere_?"

"Ah, I was going to get there. . ." The man said, but his mouth wasn't moving. Sans stared at him, shocked. "Ahem, over here." Sans turned around, and the man was sitting on the couch, waving his fingers at him.

Sans turned back to the wall, but the man wasn't there. "As I was saying," the man continued, "She's _obviously_ been here ― you hold her residue on your soul. It's old, nearly nonexistent, but there."

"I don't know who you're talking about, psycho," Sans growled. "I want ya out of m'house ― _now_."

"Please don't lie to my face ― I _hate_ lies," He sighed, shaking his head. "That's why my marriage failed," he laughed at his own joke. "Anyways, just tell me where the girl is, and we can go on our own ways."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sans repeated, and the man rolled his eyes, and flicked his hand. Dark purple magic surrounded his fingers. Sans stared, and a minute later, a thousand knives surrounded him.

Sans had no time to react as they all came flying, easily sliding into his arms, legs, head, and chest. He gasped, the pain was instant and burning all over. His body shook, but he couldn't move, he couldn't pull them out or try to run or call for help. His eyes began to close, and he gasped for air.

Sans fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The man had gotten up from the couch, and stepped over to Sans, "I'm not going to ask you again," the man said, mildly annoyed. "Where is the girl?"

Sans took a minute to breathe easier, before swallowing hard, and looking up at the man. "Who are ya?" He demanded.

The man sighed, rolling his eyes, rubbing his head. "Look, dude, I don't have _time_ for this," He checked his arm, and rolled up a sleeve, A raggedy, leather watch hung limply on his wrist. "Just tell me where she is, and I'll go, _alright_?"

Sans moved his arm, and three Gaster Blasters popped into existence, their mouths opened and charged. The man moved back, as they fired. Sans stood as the man appeared back on the worn couch. "We _really_ don't have to do this," the man said.

"Ya tryin' to kidnap a little girl," Sans growled, "We _have_ to do this." He waved his hand, causing a large wave of bones to splinter out of the wood underneath the couch, going through the furniture. The man jumped off, slicing his palm, leaving thin trail of blood on the bones.

"I mean, it would take a lot longer to do, honestly," the man said, as Sans sent bones his way, and flung his soul back against the wall. Nothing seemed to hurt the man, however. He dodged the oncoming bones with ease. "Seriously, man, can we just sit down for a _minute_!?"

" _Ya_ attacked _me_ first!" Sans snapped, and he rolled his chestnut eyes.

"I was checking your soul," he replied. "Besides, _you_ retaliated."

"It was _self-defense_!" Sans growled, but momentarily paused his attack, more than ready to fire a dozen more bones at the mysterious man. "What do ya want?"

"If I honestly have to tell you what I want again, I am _strongly_ concerned for the future of monsterkind."

"Ya know wha' I mean," Sans hissed. " _Why_ do ya want Kiona?"

" _Why_?" He scoffed. "I think I have the right to where my _daughter_ is." Sans stopped, his hands drooping slightly. " _Tell me_ where Kiona is."


End file.
